BRIEF  PRACTICAL  TREATISE 


CONSTRUCTION  AND  MANAGEMENT 


PLANK   ROADS, 


ROBERT  DALE  OWEN. 


H  AN  APPENDIX  CONTAINING  THE  GENERAL  PLANK  ROAD  .LAWS  OF  NEW- 
YORK,    KENTUCKY,    INDIANA  AND    ILLINOIS,    ANDTHE  AMENDMENTS 
THERETO    UP    TO    THE    SESSION  OF  1849-50.      ALSO,  THE 
OPINION  OF  JUDGE  GRIDLEY  OF  THE  NEW  YORK 
SUPREME   COURT  IN  THE  CASE  OF  BEN- 
EDICT VS.  GOIT. 


NEW  ALBANY: 

KENT  &  NORMAN,  PUBLISHERS. 

1850. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the 
District  Court  of  the  UNITED  STATES,  for  the  District  of  Indiana,  by     • 
P.  M.  KENT,  in  the  year  1850. 


TE 


plank  and  stringers.    Sort  of  timber.    Estimates  for  roads  with 
plank  of  various  thicknesses.    Party  should  camp  out.        -        55-63 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

TOLLS  AND  TOLL  GATES. 

Gates  how  far  apart.  Pay  of  gate-keeper.  Canadian  plan  of  farm- 
ing out  gates.  Limit  of  toll;  by  law  of  New  York;  of  Ken- 
tucky ;  of  Indiana ;  of  Illinois.  Principle  upon  which  toll  la 
charged.  Legal  decision  thereon.  Provision  in  Indiana  law. 
Probable  construction  thereof.  Plan  of  gate-house,  sheltering 
traveller.  - -  68-74 

CHAPTER  LX. 

CAPABILITIES  OF  PLANK  ROADS. 

Horse  power  of  uncertain  calculation.  Estimates  of  various  wri- 
ters. Power  of  draught  decreases  rapidly  with  velocity ;  and  on 
ascents.  Low  average  adopted.  Result,  as  to  plank  road.  Two 
horses  will  draw  easily  a  load  of  six  thousand  pounds.  Thus 
power  of  draught  trebled.  Plank  road  can  be  used  at  all  sea- 
eons.  Trip  can  be  made  in  less  time.  New  servant  three  times 
as  strong  as  the  old,  and  always  ready  and  willing.  -  74-79 

CHAPTER  X. 

COST,   DURABILITY  AND  REPAIRS. 

Cost  of  road  laid  with  three-inch  white  oak.  Cost  of  New  York 
roads.  How  many  teams  will  wear  out  two  inches  of  hemlock ; 
of  white  oak.  Natural  decay;  of  hemlock;  of  pine;  of  white 
oak.  When  two-and-a-half  inch  plank  suitable  and  when  three- 
inch.  Annual  repairs.  Mode  of  making  them.  -  -  79-83 

CHAPTER  XL 

PROFITS  OF  PLANK  ROADS. 

Dividends  of  railroads ;  of  macadamized  roads ;  of  plank  roads. 
Remarkable  examples  of  the  latter.  Data  whereby  to  calculate, 
in  advance,  the  profits  a  plank  road  will  yield.  Annual  expen- 
ses. Twelve  two-horse  teams  each  way  each  day  will  usually 
pay  six  per  cent  and  all  expenses.  What  lines  may  be  safely 
undertaken.  Calculations  of  profits  at  various  amounts  of  daily 
travel.  What  a  plank  road  will  earn,  before  it  wears  out  84-88 

CHAPTER  XII. 

GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS. 

What  a  good  bargain  is.    Plank  road  a  goad  bargain.    Compara- 


114 


viii 

tive  advantages  of  railways  and  plank  roads.  Element  of  risk 
in  calculating  railway  dividends.  No  such  element  in  estimat- 
ing plank  road  profits.  Macadamized  roads  out  of  date.  Earth- 
roads  will  be  gradually  disused.  Road-toll  will  replace  road- 
labor.  Bad  legislation  only  bar  to  rapid  spread  of  plank  roads. 
Kentucky  law  restricts  too  little  and  too  much.  If  wise  laws 
prevail,  plank  roads  will  spread  throughout  the  West.  -  89-95 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to,  and  furnished 
materials  for,  the  present  Treatise,  are  as  follows  : 

In  September  last  a  Company  was  organized,  under  the 
General  Plank  Road  Law  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  for  the 
construction  of  a  Plank  Road  in  Posey  'County  ;  namely 
from  New  Harmony  on  the  Wabash,  to  Mount  Vernon  on 
the  Ohio  ;  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles.  Of  this  Company 
I  was  elected  OHO  of  the  Directors.  At  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Board,  as  we  found  ourselves  uninformed  in  regard 
to  many  practical  details  connected  with  the  construction 
and  management  of  a  species  of  improvement,  still  novel 
in  our  State,  a  resolution  was  passed,  requesting  me,  on 
fcehalf  of  the  Company,  to  visit  that  portion  of  Western 
New  York  where  Plank  Roads  were  first  introduced  into 
-this  country,  for  -the  purpose  of  procuring  the  necessary 
information. 

I  spent  several  weeks  in  this  excursion  and  succeeded 
4n  its  objects  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner  ;  having  been 
fortunate  enough  to  meet  with  old  Congressional  acquaint- 
ances, some  of  whom  had  been  engaged  in  the  practical 
construction  of  Plank  Roads,  while  from  others  I  procur- 
ed an  introduction  to  the  original  projectors  and  managers 
of  the  first  Plank  Roads  built  in  the  Union  ;  and  these 
gentlemen,  in  the  most  liberal  and  obliging  manner,  com- 
municated to  me  every  information  I  could  desire. 

I  visited  Caze-novia,  Chittenango,  Oneida  Lake,  Syra- 


cuse,  Rome  and  Utica ;  at  all  which  places  I  had  opportu- 
nity to  converse  with  those  who  were  more  or  less  con- 
nected with  such  roads  ;  as  well  with  the  Presidents  and 
other  officers  of  Plank  Road  Companies,  as  with  men  who 
had  been  extensively  engaged  in  their  practical  construc- 
tion. I  saw  a  number  of  different  plank  roads,  some  in 
progress  of  construction  and  one  already  requiring  the  re- 
newal of  its  superstructure  :  and  obtained  many  plans, 
estimates  and  specifications. 

My  visit  and  its  object  having  become  known,  I  had 
frequent  applications  for  information.  One  or  two  brief 
articles  which,  in  reply,  I  published  in  the  newspapers, 
only  invited  further  questions  and  more  numerous  and 
minute  enquiries.  And  at  last,  although  conscious  that  I 
had  accumulated  but  scanty  material  for  a  treatise  on  this 
subject,  I  found  myself  in  the  position,  either,  with  appa- 
rent churlishness,  to  refuse  reply  to  communications  that 
had  become  too  numerous  for  private  correspondence  ;  or 
to  refer  my  correspondents  and  the  public  to  a  brief  vol- 
ume, which  should  embody  the  information,  such  as  it 
was,  that  I  had  obtained. 

I  determined  on  the  latter  course.  How  imperfect  so- 
ever my  little  work,  it  will  doubtless  convey  to  many,  on 
a  subject  so  new  and  little  known,  details  and  suggestions 
of  practical  value;  information  which  may  induce  many 
•who  are  to  benefit  by  these  roads  to  urge  forward  and  aid 
their  extension  ;  information,  too,  by  which  thousands  of 
dollars  may  be  saved  to  those  who  undertake  their  con- 
struction. I  know  of  one  road,  at  least,  in  this  State, 
which  for  lack  ot  the  requisite  knowledge,  has  cost  near- 
ly, if  not  quite,  twice  as  much  as  would  have  sufficed,  un- 
der proper  management,  to  complete  it;  and  will  be  found, 
eve*  at  such  a  cost,  imperfectly  and  unsuitable  construct- 
ed. 


Experience  in  regard  to  the  construction  of  such  roads 
is  daily  and  rapidly  accumulating  ;  in  our  own  State  alone 
it  is  supposed  that  four  hundred  miles  will  be  completed 
this  season.  The  result  will  doubtless  be,  great  improve- 
ment in  the  details  of  their  construction  ;  and  probably 
considerable  modification  of  many  of  the  recommenda- 
tions here  given.  I  shall  esteem  it  a  favor,  if  Acting  Com- 
missioners, or  others,  practically  engaged  in  plank  road 
making,  will  communicate  to  me  the  result  of  any  experi- 
ments which  show  an  improvement  on  the  plans  of  con- 
struction laid  down  in  the  following  pages. 

R.  D.  0. 

NEW  HARMONY,  Indiana,  March  1,  1850. 


I 


TREATISE  ON  PLANK  ROADS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

EFFECTS  FROM   IMPROVED    ROADS. 

It  may  be  confidently  asserted,  that,  in  our  Western 
country,  there  is  not  one  man  in  fifty  who  has  ever  sat 
down  to  make  a  deliberate  calculation  of  what  may  be 
gained  to  the  residents  of  a  country  by  improved  roads, 
or  what  is  daily  lost,  among  us,  for  lack  of  them.  In 
other  words,  few  men  have  made  an  estimate  as  to  what 
amount  of  toll  they  might  profitably  pay,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain any  given  increased  power  of  draught,  on  our  ordina- 
ry thoroughfares.  Say,  that  two  stout  horses  can,  under 
ordinary  circumstances  and  in  the  average  condition  of 
our  common  country  roads,  draw  one  ton  at  a  load.;  and 
suppose,  that,  by  any  given  plan,  the  surface  of  these 
roads  becomes  so  much  improved,  that  the  same  horses, 
with  equal  exertion,  can  draw  three  tons  at  a  load,  what 
amount  of  toll  per  mile  can  a  teamster  profitably  afford 
to  pay,  in  order  thus  to  increase  three  fold  the  power  of 
his  team  ? 

The  answer  to  this  question,  depending  upon  the  pres- 
ent usual  rate  of  transportation  by  wagon,  will  vary  some- 
what in  different  neighborhoods.  The  rale  from  the  town 
in  which  I  live  to  Mount  Vernon,  our  county  seat  on  the 
Ohio,  fifteen  miles  distant,  is  more  usually  twenty  cents 
per  hundred  pounds  than  fifteen  ;  and  sometimes  twenty- 
five  cents.  Put  it,  however,  at  fifteen  cents ;  or  one  cent 


6 

per  hundred  pounds  per  mile ;  which  is  probably  as  low 
as  the  usual  rate  of  hauling,  take  the  summer  and  winter 
through,  over  the  State  of  Indiana. 

If,  then,  the  power  of  draught  is  trebled ;  or,  in  other 
words,  if,  by  the  same  time  and  labor  of  man  and  horses 
which  nosv  convey  one  hundred  pounds  along  the  road, 
three  hundred  pounds  can  be  conveyed  ;  then  the  gain,  for 
every  hundred  pounds  of  the  original  load,  is  two  hundred 
pounds,  or  two  cents  per  mile.  On  the  entire  load  of  one 
ton  (nett,  of  2,000  Ibs.)  the  gain  would  be  twenty  times 
that  amount,  or  forty  cenls  per  mile. 

It  follows,  that,  if  we  suppose  a  wagon  always  fully- 
loaded,  and  its  owner  paid  for  all  the  loads  he  hauled  in 
cash,  at  the  rate  of  one  cent  per  hundred  per  mile,  he 
would  neither  gain  nor  lose  by  paying  a  toll  of  forty  cents 
per  mile,  for  a  two  horse  wagon. 

In  practice,  indeed,  this  calculation  would  not  hold  out. 
A  wagon  is  often  but  partially  loaded,  and  frequently  re- 
turns empty.  And  in  hauling  firewood  or  farm  produce, 
a  farmer,  employing  his  team  during  leisure  days  only, 
does  not  rate  hauling  so  high  as  a  cent  per  hundred  per 
mile.  Perhaps  half  the  amount,  or  twenty  cents  per  two 
horse  wagon  per  mile,  might  be  a  reasonable,  practical  es- 
timate. If  it  were  but  one  fourth,  however,  or  ten  cents, 
the  result  is  amply  sufficient  for  the  present  argument. 
This  is  no  fanciful  theory.  It  is  a  very  plain  and  simple 
estimate  which  any  farmer  or  teamster,  sitting  down  by 
his  fireside,  may  verify,  with  his  pencil,  in  five  minutes. 
If  I  have  not  put  the  rate  of  hauling  too  high,  the  deduc- 
tion can  no  more  be  denied,  than  we  can  deny,  that  two 
and  two  make  four. 

Now,  I  am  about  to  set  forth,  in  the  following  chapters, 
the  details  of  construction  by  which  roads,  partially  cover- 


ed  with  plank,  can  be  made  throughout  our  State,  or  any 
other  State  where  timber  can  be  readily  procured;  which 
roads  shall  enable  every  man  who  travels  them  to  convey, 
on  the  average,  by  wagon  or  otherwise,  at  least  three 
times  as  much  as  he  now  does,  with  any  given  horse  pow- 
er. And  I  am  about  to  show,  that  instead  of  exacting  u 
loll  of  ticenty  cents  per  mile  for  a  two  horse  team,  on  these 
improved  roads,  a  toll  of  two  cents  per  mile,  the  highest 
allowed  here  by  law,  will,  on  any  moderately  travelled 
line  of  road,  pay  to  the  owners  of  the  road  a  handsome 
per  centage  on  their  investment. 

In  travelling  on  such  roads,  when  a  wagoner,  fully 
loaded,  passes,  every  five  miles,  through  a  toll-gate,  and 
pays  at  each,  for  his  two  horse  team,  one  dime  toll,  he  is 
paying  for  that  which,  for  the  time  and  at  present  rates,  is 
actually  worth  to  him  two  dollars ;  for  if  the  toll-gate  had 
not  been  there  and  the  road  had  remained  in  its  ordinary 
state,  he  would  have  charged  (at  the  rate  of  one  cent  per 
hundred  pounds  per  mile)  two  dollars  for  conveying  four 
thousand  pounds  five  miles ;  which  four  thousand  pounds, 
in  addition  to  his  ordinary  load,  he  is  now  hauling  along 
that  five  miles  without  any  increased  power  or  any  addi- 
tional cost,  save  only  this  ten  cents  of  toll.  In  paying 
ten  cents  toll,  then,  he  mav  be  regarded  as  a  gainer  of 
one  dollar  and  ninety  cents  for  every  five  miles  he  tra- 
vels;  and  he  would  actually  gain  it,  if  he  had  always 
a  full  load  and  if  rates  of  transportation  remained  un- 
changed. Let  rates  vary  as  they  will,  it  is  a  gain  to  some 
one. 

If,  to  any  one,  such  a  result  seem  incredible,  1  ask  him 
to  take  pen  in  hand  and  disprove  it— if  he  can. 

If  he  cannot;  if  plain,  truthful  figures  lead  inevitably 
lo  such  a  result,  then  it  must  be  conceded,  that  roads  thus 


improved,  at  such  a  rate  of  toll,  are  a  national  blessing,  of 
which  it  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  pecuniary  ad- 
vantages. 

The  mere  diminution  of  the  rates  of  hauling,  discon- 
nected from  other  results,  is  the  least  portion  of  these  ad- 
vantages. 

There  lives,  on  the  line  of  such  an  improved  road  now 
in  progress  of  construction  from  New  Harmony  to  Mount 
Vernon  and  about  snidvay  of  the  distance,  a  prosperous 
farmer  named  Wilson.  He  OWBS  a  thousawd  acres  of 
land,  on  both  sides  of  the  road ;  of  which  k«d  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  are  cleared  and  under  cultivation, 
while  the  remaining  eight  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  rich  aud 
heavily  limbered,  are  still  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  are,  to 
the  owner..  asou.rce  of  no  revenue-  and  of  continued  taxa- 
tion. 

Why  does  Mr,  Wilson  not  sell  cordwood  from  his  tim- 
bered land  and  thus  obtain  the  means  of  clearing  and  ma- 
king it  productive  ?  Because  his  nearest  available  market 
is  Mount  Vernon,  more  than  seven  miles  distant,  and  it 
will  not  pay  to  haul  wood  thither,  on  the  present  road,  as 
will  readily  appear  by  comparing  rates  and  prices.  Cord- 
wood  for  family  use  is  worth,  in  Mount  Vernon,  a  dollair 
and  a  ha'.f  a  cord,  steamboat  wood  rating,  somewhat  high- 
er. Mr.  Wilson  is  satisfied  if  his  four  horse  team,  at  leis- 
ure times,  earns  two  dollars  and  a  half  a  day  ;  and,  in 
long  summer  days,  he  can  make  two  trip*  to  Mount  Ver- 
non, conveying  one  cord  of  seasoned  wood  each  trip.  To 
chop  this  wood  costs  about  forty  cents  a  cord.  The  day's 
work,  then,  would  stand  thus: 

Labor  of  team  and  teamster          -         -         -  $2  60 

Chopping  two  cords  of  wood  at  40c.          -  80 


Cost  of  2  cords  of  wood  delivered          -         -          $3  30 


But  these  two  cords  of  wood  would  fetch  three  dollars 
only ;  thus  leaving  a  daily  loss  by  the  operation,  of  thirty 
cents.  Of  course  Mr.  Wilson  hauls  no  cordwood  to  Mt. 
Vernon. 

But  now,  let  us  see  how  the  account  will  stand  when  the 
improved  road,  trebling  the  power  of  draught  and  taxed 
with  tolls,  is  completed.  Mr.  Wilson  can  then,  with  four 
horses,  on  a  properly  constructed  wagon  with  spacious 
wagon-bed  and  broad  tires,  as  easily  haul  three  cords  of 
seasoned  wood,  as  now  he  can  haul  one,  and  his  two  trips 
can  be  made  at  all  seasons  and  in  considerably  shorter 
time  than  at  present.  Each  day,  then,  a  single  four  horse 
team  can  deliver  six  cords,  at  a  cost  as  follows: 
Labor  of  team  and  teamster,  as  before  -  -  <i>2  50 
Chopping  6  cords  at  40c.  -  -  -  -  2  40 
Tolls,  30  miles,  at  3  cents  per  mile  90 


Cost  of  6  cords  of  wood  delivered         •         •  $5  80 

These  six  cords  would  bring  nine  dollars;  leaving  a 
daily  profit  of  three  dollars  and  twenty  cents;  more  than 
fifty  cents  a  cord. 

As,  however,  the  cost  of  hauling  the  wood  from  the 
spot  where  it  is  cut  to  the  line  of  plank  road  should  be 
added,  and  there  must  always  be  allowance  for  contingen- 
cies, I  deduct  twenty  cents  and  say  thirty  cents  only  a 
cord. 

Now,  let  us  examine  the  results.  While  the  old  road, 
without  toll-gates,  was  the  only  medium  of  transportation, 
Mr.  Wilson's  cordwood,  as  an  article  of  commerce,  was 
worthless.  In  point  of  fact,  if  he  desired  to  clear  his  land, 
it  was  a  negative  quantity,  worth  less  than  nothing  ;  or, 
in  other  words,  a  source  of  expense,  since  it  would  cost 
something  to  roll  the  logs  in  heaps  and  burn  them  out  of 


10 

the  way.  But  as  soon  as  the  improved  taxed  road  is  open- 
ed, this  same  wonhless  incumbrance  becomes,  at  once,  of 
so  much  value,  that  it  will  pay,  twice  over,  for  clearing 
and  fencing  the  land  on  which  it  stands.  For  if  we  put 
the  number  of  cords  of  wood  to  the  acre,  reserving  rail- 
timber,  at  seventy-five  (a  low  estimate*  on  beech  and  su- 
gar-tree land  as  thickly  limbered  as  that  of  which  I  speak) 
these,  at  thirty  cents  a  cord,  would  be  worth  twenty-two 
dollars  and  a  half  an  acre;  and  half  that  amount,  the  cord- 
wood  being  out  of  the  way,  would  not  only  clear  and  fence 
the  land  but  also  erect  ordinary  farm  buildings  on  it. 

What  would  Mr.  Wilson  have  thought  of  it,  if  some  one 
had  proffered  to  clear  and  fence,  ready  for  cultivation,  say 
two  hundred  acres  of  his  woodland,  and  to  pay  him  two 
thousand  dollars  for  the  privilege  of  so  doing  1  He  would 
have  deemed  such  an  offer  little  short  of  madness,  or  a 
miracle  in  his  favor.  Yei  just  such  a  miracle  is  actually 
wrought,  in  his  favor,  provided  he  has  energy  and  enter- 
prise to  profit  by  the  road  which  will  soon  run  past  his 
door. 

If  he  avail  himself  of  its  facilities,  what  will  be  the 
probable  consequences,  to  himself  and  to  the  country  ? 

Let  us  suppose,  that  he  keeps  two  four-horse  teams  re- 
gularly running  between  his  farm  and  Mount  Vernon, 
conveying  thither  twelve  cords  of  wood  a  day.  To  chop 
and  haul  this  wood  he  must  employ  regularly  ten  or  twelve 
hands. 

*Good  upland,  well  timbered,  will  usually  average  as  much  as  this,  if 
it  be  carefully  managed  and  if  part  of  the  cord-wood  be  for  family  use. 
A  neighbor  of  mine  who  has  experience  in  such  matters,  having  clear- 
ed a  large  number  of  acres  on  the  Ohio,  informs  me,  that  he  obtained, 
on  the  average,  42  cords  of  steamboat  wood  to  the  acre,  and  had  left 
nearly  as  much  more  suitable  for  family  use.  But  the  ordinary  Ohio 
bottom  lands  do  not  furnish  as  much  cord-wood,  probably  by  a  third,  as 
good  beech  and  sugar- tree  land. 


11 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  mere  improvement  in  a  road, 
creating  permanent  employment  and  giving  birth  to  a  lu- 
crative business  ;  furnishing  a  livelihood  to  eight  or  ten 
additional  laborers  on  a  single  farm,  and  returning  to  the 
owner  of  that  farm  a  clear  profit,  from  this  newlv  created 
business,  of  seven  or  eight  hundred  dollars  annually. 

But  the  benefit  to  the  country  does  not  stop  here.  The 
land  which  would  have  remained  timber-clothed  and  un- 
tenanted  excent  by  beast  and  bird,  is  opened  into  farms 
and  occupied  by  busy  settlers. 

Here  we  have  all  the  elements  of  national  prosperity. 
Remunerating  employment  supplied  ;  profit-bringing  busi- 
ness called  into  existence  ;  forest  lands  reclaimed  ;  real 
estate  made  valuable  ;  the  productions  of  the  earth  in- 
creased, both  in  quantity  and  in  value. 

There  is  another  point  in  the  case  well  worthy  of  re- 
mark. The  improved  road  creates  its  own  business.  If 
it  had  never  been  made,  Mr.  Wilson's  cord-wood  would 
have  remained  in  the  tree,  and  his  teams  would  not  have 
started.  It  will  be  the  new  road  that  starts  them.  But 
these  teams  will  pay  to  the  stockholders  of  that  road  a 
dollar  and  eighty  cents  per  day;  or  say  five  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  a  year.  This  is  the  interest,  at  six  per  cent, 
on  upwards  of  nine  thousand  dollars  ;  or  more  than  half 
the  amount  which  the  improved  road  from  Mr.  Wilson's 
farm  to  Mount  Vernon  will  cost,  all  expenses  whatever  in- 
cluded. 

And  then  there  are  the  farms  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  road  enables  Mr.  Wilson  profitably  to  clear.  The  oc- 
cupiers of  these  farms  will  have  their  teams,  and  their 
corn  and  wheat  and  other  produce  to  be  sent  to  market. 
Here  again  the  road  is  creating  and  increasing  its  own  bu- 
siness. 


12 

I  have  followed  out  this  example,  in  its  details,  because 
similar  results  will  be  found  along  the  line  of  all  such  im- 
proved roads,  varying  in  degree  of  advantage  according 
to  distance  from  market,  to  prices  and  to  the  precise  char- 
acter of  surplus  production. 

hi  practice  it  has  been  uniformly  found,  that  such  roads 
immediately  and  rapidly  augment  the  amount  of  travel. 
Mr.  Alvord,  of  Salina,  N.  ST.,  under  whose  superintendence 
the  first  plank  road  ever  built  in  the  United  States  was 
completed,  and  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  much  valuable 
information  on  this  subject,  told  me,  that,  previously  to  the 
commencement  of  that  road,  it  was  deemed  prudent  to 
station  men  on  different  days  and  at  different  points  along 
it,  to  ascertain  the  average  number  of  teams  that  passed 
each  day.  The  number  proved  to  be^sevemy-five.  This 
was  in  the  year  1845.  In  the  month  of  July,  1846,  the 
road  was  completed,  namely  from  Central  Square  to  Syra- 
cuse, or  rather  to  Salina,  noted  for  its  extensive  salt-works, 
where  its  southern  terminus  is  ;  and  similar  observations 
being  repeated  in  the  summer  of  1847,  the  average  daily 
number  of  teams  was  found  to  have  increased  to  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty.  In  other  words,  in  one  year  after  the  open- 
ing of  the  plank  road,  the  travel  had  more  than  trebled. 

I  asked  Mr.  Alvord  how,  without  a  great  increase  of 
population  by  emigration  or  otherwise,  this  rapid  increase 
of  travel,  could  be  explained.  "  It  is  easily  accounted 
for,"  was  his  reply.  "  The  chief  transportation  over  our 
road,  is  of  empty  salt  barrels  for  the  Salina  works.  The 
country  north  of  us  furnishes  excellent  timber  for  cooper- 
age. Previously  to  the  building  of  our  plank  road,  these 
barrels  came  in,  on  the  old  road,  from  a  distance  of  six, 
seven  or  eight  miles,  for  that  was  as  far  as  it  would  pay 
to  bring  them  ;  forty  or  fifty  barrels  being,  in  the  average 


13 

state  of  the  road,  a  load  for  two  horses.  Now,  they  are 
brought  from  a  distance  of  fifteen  or  twenty  miles ;  the 
business  of  cooperage  has  spread  over  a  large  tract  of  coun- 
try not  hitherto  employed  in  it ;  and  I  have  frequently 
counted  a  hundred  and  fifty  barrels  piled  on  a  two-horse 
wagon." 

The  Syracuse  and  Central  Square  Plank  Road  had  thus, 
in  a  single  year,  created  a  new  business,  equal  to  double 
that  which  existed  along  the  same  line,  while  the  medium 
of  transportation  was  a  common  earth  road  only.* 

If  the  chief  staple  on  the  Salina  road,  instead  of  being 
salt  barrels,  had  been  corn  or  pork  or  hay  or  shingles  or 
any  other  article,  whether  of  farm  produce  or  of  manu- 
facture, the  principle  would  equally  have  applied,  and  the 
result  would  have  been  similar. 

There  are  some  cases  in  which  it  is  a  very  easy  thing 
to  prophecy,  and  the  progress  of  plank  roads  is  one. 
These  roads  are  as  certain  to  become  universal  in  Indiana 
and  other  forest-covered  States,  as  men  are  certain,  when 
the  choice  between  one  dollar  and  five  dollars  is  offered  to 
them,  to  select  the  latter. 

The  simple  reason  is,  that,  if  they  are  properly  con- 
structed along  any  of  our  principal  State  or  county  roads, 
all  parties  concerned  are  gainers.  The  farmer  or  team- 
ster pays  two  cents  per  mile  for  the  privilege  of  adding 
four  thousand  pounds  to  a  two  horse  load  and  still  draw- 
ing it  as  easily  and  rapidly  as  before  ;  and  that  privilege 
is  worth  five  or  ten  times  what  he  pays  for  it.  Then  there 
is  the  gain  to  the  owner  of  land.  I  would  give  Mr.  Wil- 
son five  dollars  an  acre  more  for  his  land  with  a  plank 

*Mr.  Alvord  further  informed  me,  that  the  average  time  employed  on 
a  trip  on  the  plank  road  was  not  more  than  two-thirds  of  what  it  had 
been,  for  the  same  distance,  on  the  old  road. 


14 

road  running  through  it  and  connecting  it  with  Mount  Ver- 
non,  than  I  would  without  it;  and  for  a  very  sufficient  rea- 
son. I  could  rr.ake  with  the  privilege  of  the  plank  road, 
ten  dollars  an  acre  additional  profit  from  it,  beyond  what 
could  be  realised,  so  long  as  the  present  unimproved  road 
is  its  only  medium  of  communication  with  the  Ohio  river. 
But  if  we  estimate  the  average  increase  in  the  value  of 
lands  along  a  plank  road,  to  be,  for  each  acre  within  one 
mile  of  the  road,  one  dollar  only;  for  each  acre  within 
iwo  miles  of  the  road  fifty  cents  ;  and  for  each  acre  with- 
in three  miles  of  the  road,  twenty-five  cents ;  then  the  to- 
tal increase,  amounting  to  two  thousand  two  hundred  and 
forty  dollars  for  each  mile  of  road,  would  more  than  suf- 
fice, under  ordinary  circumstances,  to  pay  the  entire  cost 
of  construction.  Thus,  if  the  building  any  line  of  plank 
road  increased  the  value  of  lands  wiihin  three  miles  on 
each  side  of  it,  at  the  above  rates,  the  owners  of  the  land 
could  afford  to  complete  it  and  open  it  to  the  public, 
though  it  never  returned  them  a  cent  in  the  way  of  divi- 
dends. 

But  it  is  easy  to  show,  and  experience  has  proved  it, 
that,  at  the  usual  cost  of  such  roads,  an  amount  of  daily 
travel,  equal,  on  the  average,  to  from  ten  to  twelve  two 
horse  learns,  each  way,  will  pay  a  dividend  of  six  per  ceni 
over  all  current  expenses.  As  to  the  renewal  of  the  su- 
perstructure, the  increase  of  travel  may,  in  every  case, 
safely  be  trusted  to  overpay  that.  The  detailed  estimates 
necessary  to  substantiate  the  above  calculation  are  given 
in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

I  repeat  it,  a  species  of  enterprise  thus  eminently  ad- 
vantageous both  to  its  stockholders  and  to  the  public  must 
spread,  with  rapid  strides,  wherever  material  can,  at  rea- 
sonable price,  be  obtained.  In  the  soil  of  the  deep,  allu- 


15 

vial  forest  lands  of  this  and  of  our  neighboring  States 
there  lies  buried  in  rich  profusion,  as  surely  as  in  the  sands 
of  the  Sacramento,  if  not  gold,  gold's  equivalent.  It  is 
so  troublesome  and  expensive,  with  no  better  facilities  than 
our  present  wretched  roads  afford,  to  sift  and  coin  this 
home  gold,  that  many  prefer  the  dangers  of  the  Plains  or 
the  Isthmus,  and  seek  on  the  distant  shores  of  the  Pacific 
the  wealth  which  a  little  judicious  enterprise  would  place 
within  their  reach  ut  home.  Show  clearly,  at  first  by 
careful  estimate,  afterwards  by  actual  experience,  that  the 
home  gold  is  to  be  had;  and  the  same  money-seeking  en- 
terprise which  is  now  building  up  San  Francisto  into  the 
metropolis  of  half  a  continent,  will  go  zealously  to  work 
to  construct  that  home-gold-sifter,  the  plank  road. 

If  Mr.  Wilson  had  found,  on  his  farm,  a  gold  mine  for 
which  he  was  offered  five  thousand  dollars,  the  rumor  of 
his  good  fortune  would  have  rung  all  over  the  land.  The 
plank  road  is,  to  hitn,  quite  as  advantageous  as  such  a 
mine.  It  renders  timber  that  was  comparatively  valueless 
worth  ten  or  twenty  dollars  an  acre.  It  increases,  by 
much  more  than  five  thousand  dollars,  the  intrinsic  value 
of  his  farm. 

And  so  of  other  men,  and  other  articles  of  produce, 
wherever  a  plank  road  passes  or  nears  them.  Wheth- 
er a  farmer  adds  five  hundred  dollars,  yearly,  to  his  in- 
come, by  washing  sand  out  of  some  gold-bearing  creek 
that  crosses  his  meadows,  or  whether  it  comes  to  him  in 
the  shape  of  increased  value  of  corn  or  wheat  or  pork  or 
limber,  or  of  a  stone-quarry  perhaps,  which,  till  then, 
would  not  have  repaid  the  cost  of  opening  it,  what  differ- 
ence, except  in  fancy  and  in  name  1 

There  is  one  effect  produced  by  all  improved  roads, 
whether  plank  or  railways,  which  is  well  worthy  of  note. 


16 

They  tend  to  equalize  the  value  of  land.  Why  does  a 
farm  three  miles  from  a  flourishing  town  sell,  perhaps,  for 
twice  as  much  per  acre  as  a  farm  of  land  equally  good 
but  nine  miles  distant  1  Because  the  cost  of  transporting 
produce  to  its  usual  market,  is  three  times  as  much  from 
the  one  farm  as  from  the  other.  If  you  construct  an  im- 
provement passing  both  forms,  whereby  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation is  reduced  to  one-third  its  present  rate,  the  effect 
is  to  give  to  the  distant  farm  the  advantage  of  six  miles 
transportation  saved,  or  in  other  words,  to  bring  it  six  miles 
nearer  to  market ;  while  the  effect  to  the  nearer  farm  is 
that  of  approaching  it  two  miles  only  closer  to  market. 
They  are  placed,  therefore,  much  more  nearly  on  an 
equality ;  and,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  their  monied 
value  becomes  more  nearly  equal. 

Time  was,  when  the  daily  marketing  of  cities  was  sup- 
plied, almost  exclusively,  by  market-gardeners,  living  but 
a  few  miles  from  the  corporation  line,  on  land  which 
owed  its  high  value  to  the  species  of  monopoly  it  enjoyed. 
Now,  half  a  State  comes  into  successful  competition  with 
them.  I  recently  drank,  in  my  coffee,  at  a  friend's  break- 
fast table  in  New  York,  milk  which  had  been,  that  same 
morning  at  four  o'clock,  milked  on  a  farm  seventy  miles 
distant.  The  railway  which  conveyed  it  to  the  city,  tend- 
ed to  equalize  the  value  of  land,  as  between  that  farm  and 
the  dairy-farms  of  Long  Island.  Its  effect,  like  that  of  all 
other  improved  roads,  tended  to  the  equalization  of  the 
value  of  property,  to  the  extension  of  free  competition  and 
to  the  suppression  of  exclusive  privilege. 

Against  railways  the  objection  has  been  urged,  that  the 
farmer's  wagon,  at  leisure  times,  is  not  available,  in  con- 
nection with  such  an  improvement.  The  objection  is  un- 
doubtedly valid,  as  far  as  it  goes ;  though  counterbalanced, 


17 

cri  important  lines  of  transportation,  by  the  speed  and  the 
power  of  the  locomotive.  This  objection  does  not  lie 
against  the  plank  road.  It  is  the  farmer's  railroad,  prepar- 
ed to  receive  his  owa  wagons  and  teams,  if  the  former  be 
but  stout  enough  to  bear  up  under  the  loads  it  euables  him 
to  draw  over  its  graded  and  imp  roved  surface. 

It  will  never  supersede  the  iron  railway  and  the  steam- 
drawn  car.  Each  of  these  improvements  has  its  appro- 
priate sphere  ;  tfae  railway  as  a  great,  leading  thoroughfare, 
terminau.'ng  in  cities  and  connecting  distant  sections  of 
country;  the  plank  road  to  afford  communication  between 
smaller  towns  and  villages,  to  form  neighborhood  and 
cross-roads,  oftee  at  right  angles  to  a  railroad  Line,  supple- 
mental to  it,  and  terminating  at  its  stations. 

Plank  roads  first  sprung  up  and  became  profitable  among 
us,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  raikoads.  Those  which 
I  saw  in  Western  New  York  were  chiefly  tributary  to  the 
Buffalo  and  Albany  railroad,  iheir  general  direction  being 
usually  north  and  south. 

The  success  of  plaiak  roads  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  the  estimation  in  which  they  are  there  held,  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact,  that  although  the  first  plank  road  ever 
constructed  in  the  United  States,  to-wit  that  from  Syracuse 
to  Central  Square,  was  opened  only  about  three  years  and 
a  half  ago,  yet,  at  this  moment,  upwards  of  two  thousand 
miles  of  plank  road  are  in  operation  or  in  progress  of  con- 
struction, in  that  State  alone.*  I  made  special  enquiry  as 
to  the  dividends  declared  on  these  roads,  and  could  not 
hear  of  one,  in  full  operation,  that  paid  less  than  ten  per 

*3ee  recent  report  ef  the  Secretary  ofc  State  of  New  York,  in  which 
w«  are  informed,  that  there  are  articles  of  association  filed  in  his  office 
contemplating  the  construction  of  more  than  2,000  miles  of  plank  road, 
and  involving  the  expenditure  of  more  than  three  millions  of  dollars. 
2 


18 

cent,  orer  expenses.-  Among;  so>  many,.  Fro:*e-*er- 
doubtless,  will  prove  unprofitable;  and  this  I  the  rather  anti- 
cipate, because  I  noticed^,  occasionally,  much  carelessness 
in  conswuctror*.. 

These  roads  zv&  ijttiTsrsn&y  feeldy  so-  fcirae  I  had  oppor> 
lurii*y  &f  judging,  i-n  high  estimation  by  the  farmers. 

I  deove  out  oa  the  Syracuse  rood  uvo  mU<isr  to- the  first 
toll-gate,  where  nea*ly  five1  thousand  dollars  suyearars 
taken  i«  ;  and.  had  some  coaversaikm.  with  the  gate-keep- 
er, li  found- a  comavoB  country  road,  comiag  in,  at  right 
angles  to-  the  plank  road,  just  at  the  gate  house..  And 
wagoners  coming  ia  by  this  csoss-soad  had  the  choice,, 
either  to  pass  through  the  gate,  paying  toll  and  taking  tha 
plank  road,  two  miles,  to  Syracuse  ?  or.  elseto  take  a  com-' 
mon  earth  road  leading  to  the  city,  miming  nearly  paral- 
lel to  the  plank  road  and  nowhsse  more  than  forty,  or  fifty 
rods  distant  fr-em-  it.-  This  earth  road  seemed  i.n<  fair  order, 
though,  I-  observ&d,  semew-bat  grown  up  with  grass  ;  and 
I  asked  the  toll-gate  keeper  what  portion  of  the  wagons 
coming  along  the  cross-road  pa4d  toll  aud  took,  the  plank 
road-,  and'  wtnu  r>r.op©*tioa  took  the  free  road,  to  Syracuse- 
His  sepl-y  was,  that,  ia  saudd-y  weathec.  hardly  a  single 
wagon  turned  into  the  earth  road  ;  btu  that  i*i.  fine,  dry 
weaihec,  the  propottio-n,  as  he  had  satisfied  himself  by 
keeping  count  on  several  different  days,  was,  that  one  in 
every  seven  o$  eight  wagons  took  the  frss  r-oad,  and  the  rest 
passed  through  live-  toll  gate  a-nd  on.  the  p4ank.  Yet  this 
was  no  fair  criterion  whereby  to  judge  the  respective  de- 
grees of  favoc  o-f  the  two  noods-;.  for  the  teaans  eoming 
along  the  earth  road,  say  with  a  ton  each,  paid  the  same 
loMi  for  that  singls  ton-  sa  if  they  heed  been  loaded  express- 
ly for  the  plank  road,  perhaps  with  three  tons  apiece-. 

To  every  thing  norel  objections  wilt  be  rai>?ed  ;  and  of 
course  to  plank  roads.     The  objections  most  popular  and 


19 

most  usually  urged,  especially  where  the  right  of  way 
over  an  old  load  has  been  demanded,  is.  that  it  is  convert- 
ing a  road  that  has  ever  been  free  to  all,  into  a  taxed  road 
for  the  benefit  of  a  Company. 

Lei  us  examine,  in  another  chapter,  this  question,  of  free 
and  taxed  roads. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FREE    AND    TAXED    ROADS. 

The  old  Indian  trace  is  a  free  road.  So  is  a  cow-path 
from  farm  to  farm.  In  like  manner,  a  private  wood-road 
whereon  to  haul  rails  to  a  field,  or  firewood  to  a  dwelling, 
is,  after  it  is  once  chopped  out,  a  free  road,  until  trees  fall 
across  it,  or  dead  branches  drop  upon  it ;  and  it  is  thus 
blocked  up,  requiring  a  tax,  in  the  shape  either  of  labor 
or  money,  to  open  it  afresh. 

But  to  talk  of  any  of  our  ordinary  State  or  County  roads, 
even  after  the  original  cost  of  opening  them  through  the 
forest  is  paid,  being  free  roads,  is  an  abuse  of  terms. 
They  are,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  taxed  roads ; 
roads  taxed  sometimes  very  heavily;  and  always,  as  the 
road-law  of  this  Slate  and  of  most  other  States  now  stands, 
very  unjustly. 

There  must  be  expended  upon  them,  year  after  year, 
money,  or  labor  which  is  money's  equivalent,  not  to  keep 
them  in  good  order — for  that  they  very  rarely  are,  even  in 
summer,  and,  in  the  winter  months,  never — but  to  keep 
them  passable.  And  this  word  passable  must  be  very  lib- 
erally construed,  to  apply  in  the  case.  The  road  hence 


20 

to  Mount  Vernon,  can  be  travelled  at  this  moment;  and 
is,  therefore,  in  strictness,  passable  ;  for  I  travelled  it,  in 
company  with  a  friend,  the  other  day.  To  convey  us  and 
two  small  trunks  across,  required  four  active  horoes  ;  and 
they  sunk,  literally  to  their  girths,  in  the  frequent  mud- 
holes.  There  were  no  toll-gates  on  it,  it  is  true  ;  but  each 
of  us,  in  addition  to  the  annual  highway  tax  we  pay  to 
keep  this  road  in  repair,  paid,  on  this  particular  occasion, 
a  toll  of  two  dollars  ;  that  is,  upwards  of  thirteen  cents  a 
mile.  Our  fare,  for  fifteen  miles,  was  three  dollars  each  ; 
and  the  charge  was  moderate  ;  for  the  trip  to  and  fro  was 
a  hard  two  days  job  for  a  four  horse  stage.  A  two  horse 
stage  would  have  done  it,  with  much  greater  ease  on  the 
plank  road,  in  a  single  day ;  and  the  charge  would  not 
have  exceeded  one  dollar  apiece.  The  difference,  two 
dollars  to  each  of  us,  was  a  tax  imposed  for  lack  of  a 
plank  road.  That  was  a  fair  amount  of  toll  to  pay  on  one 
hundred  miles  of  a  perfectly  good  road  ;  a  plank  road,  for 
example,  on  which  a  carriage  could  travel,  summer  or 
winter,  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour :  but  to  pay  it  on 
filteen  miles  of  road,  for  the  privilege  of  wading,  at  the 
rate  of  three  miles  an  hour,  through  mud  under  which  our 
wheel-hubs  were  continually  disappearing,  was  neither 
pleasant  nor  profitable. 

I  beg  it  may  be  understood,  however,  that  I  do  not  in- 
stance this  as  a  case  of  uncommon  hardship,  or  a  tax  of 
unusual  amount.  Last  winter,  the  inhabitants  of  Me. 
Leansboro,  a  small  town  in  Southern  Illinois,  some  forty 
or  fifty  miles  northwest  of  Shawneetown,  found  them- 
selves, in  consequence  of  the  miserable  condition  of  the 
roads  around  them,  cut  off  from  all  supplies  and  thus  de- 
prived of  coffee,  sugar  and  other  necessaries  of  life. 
Tempting  offers  were  made  to  several  teamsters,  but  none 


21 

of  them  would  stir  from  home.  At  last,  a  farmer  of  the 
neighborhood  declared,  that  he  had  a  team  of  four  horses 
which  no  mud  could  daunt,  and  that  he  would  risk  a  trip 
to  Shawneetown,  and  bring  back  the  necessary  supplies. 
Ten  days  elapsed,  and  his  empty  wagon  was  slowly  and 
painfully  dragged  into  town  by  two  drooping  and  jaded 
horses,  scarcely  to  be  recognized  as  part  of  the  fresh  and 
spirited  team  that  started  on  this  expedition.  Their  own- 
er, by  great  exertions,  had  reached  Shawneetown,  where 
he  took  in  about  half  a  load.  Two  of  his  horses  were 
killed  in  the  attempt  to  return  ;  his  load  was  left  perforce 
on  the  road,  and  the  surviving  horses  were  so  worn  down 
by  the  trip  as  to  be  unfit  for  use  during  the  rest  of  the 
winter. 

The  tax,  in  this  case,  was  a  severe  one  ;  considerably 
exceeding  a  hundred  dollars  for  the  trip.  But  a  hundred 
dollars  ought  to  pay  toll  on  a  wagon  loaded  with  three 
tons  and  travelling  over  the  very  best  road,  for  five  thous- 
and miles  ;  and  ihat  is  more  than  one  fifth  of  the  distance 
around  the  world. 

Nor  let  any  one  imagine,  even  setting  aside  such  inci- 
dental toll  as  the  above,  that  this  horse-killing  Shawnee- 
town road  is,  in  any  sense,  a  free  one.  Its  tolls  are  not, 
inded,  collected  in  gatehouses,  a  dime  at  a  time.  But  the 
farmer  is  called  from  his  half-ploughed  field,  and  the  me- 
chanic from  his  workshop,  to  expend  so  many  days  labor 
upon  it ;  and  the  land-owner  pays  toll  thereon  in  the  shape 
of  a  percentage  on  his  property. 

It  can  never  be  a  question,  whether  our  highways  shall 
be  free  or  taxed,  for  no  roads  will  keep  themselves  in  or- 
der. The  sole  question  is,  upon  what  principle  shall  they 
be  taxed  ?  Toll  must  be  exacted  from  some  one  ;  either 
from  those  who  travel  them,  or  from  those  who  do  not 


22 

1  think  the  just  principle,  in  this  as  in  other  cases,  is, 
that  those  who  use  a  thing  should  pay  to  keep  it  in  order. 
Our  road-law  makers,  however,  seem  to  have  been  of  a 
different  opinion.  A  man  may  drive  wagon  or  ride  horse, 
in  the  course  of  a  year,  many  thousand  miles  over  the 
roads  of  a  county  ;  he  may  be  the  jwner  of  a  daily  stage 
which  cuts  them  up  as  much  as  the  transportation  from  a 
dozen  farms ;  and  yet  our  present  law  does  not  require 
him  to  contribute  any  heavier  toll  to  defray  road  expenses 
and  repair  the  great  wear  and  tear  he  occasions,  than  the 
farm-laborer,  earning  his  eight  dollars  a  month,  the  owner 
of  neither  team  nor  saddle-horse,  and  who  travels  the 
roads,  when  he  travels  them  at  all,  on  foot. 

I  do  not  recommend  that  toll-gates  should  be  erected  on 
our  county  and  state  roads ;  but  the  reason  is,  not  because 
the  principle  of  road-toll  is  unfair — it  is  the  only  fair  prin- 
ciple— but  because  the  expense  of  toll-gates,  on  roads  so 
little  improved  as  ours,  would  not  be  warranted.  It  must 
be  regarded  as  an  excellent  feature  in  the  plank  road  sys- 
tem, that  it  enables  us,  so  far  as  that  species  of  improve- 
ment is  carried  out,  to  replace  an  unjust  by  a  just  mode  of 
taxation. 

The  present  road-tax  system,  of  personal  service  and 
commutation,  though  it  exists,  under  varying  modifications, 
in  almost  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  very  much  resem- 
bles, as  a  recent  writer  on  Roads  has  remarked,  a  remnant 
of  feudal  vassalage,  when  one  of  the  tenures  by  which 
land  was  held  was  the  obligation  to  make  the  roads  pass- 
able for  the  lord  of  the  manor.  In  the  first  settlement  of 
a  frontier  country,  some  such  system  almost  naturally 
suggests  itself.  But  we  have  outlived  its  necessity,  and 
are  suffering  grievously  from  its  imperfections.  If  half 
the  amount  now  exacted  in  labor  were  collected  in  money 


23 

atnfl  expended,  rn  each  district,  under  the  direction  -of  A 
practical  road-ma'ker,  tfee  burden  would  'be  much  less 
tmd  the  roads  much  better.  And  if  this  money -tax  were 
collected  chiefly  from  land,  of  which  the  valuens  increas- 
ed'byl'he  improvement  of  roads,  rt  ^vould  be  a  mudh  more 
•equitabte  assessment,  than  :rf  levied,  -as  many  road-'law* 
ipermrt,  lin  the  ^hape  erf  a  petl-tax  on  each  ad«k  mate  to- 
habitant. 

'But  the  w"hole  system  :is  radically 'Unequitable, •so  long  a« 
*he  road-travellers  are  not  reached;  so  "long  as  those  who 
chiefly  wear  oet  the  roads  do'Rot  chiefly  pay  for  that  high- 
way la'bor  of  tv'hie'h  they  reap  th-e 'benefit -and  have -caused 
the  necessity. 

I  wotfid  -not'huve  rt  imagined,  that  1  -regard  (he  present 
•system  off  toll-free  roads,  us  specially  favoring  the  travel- 
ler. 1  considered  it  no  special  favor,  on  my  recent  trip 
•from  MOUTH  rvrernon,  "to  'have  the  privilege  of  paying  -two 
•dollars  extra  rto  the  stage-driver,  »nd  saving  fifteen  cents 
hi  the^hape  of -idll.  T*hat  unlucky  -wtgrit  -who  "lost  -two 
f»ood  'hcrses  on  the  Shawneetcwn  roafi  w«s  -not  speciaily 
ifiivoted  on  the  trip,  though  no  foll-bar  crossed  his  way. 
The  bill  paid  to  tfee  blacksmith  or  the  wagon-maker  or  the 
«adler,  for  ^repniring  an  axle-tree  Ctmt  •wfte'lirdken  in  a  rut, 
ior  renewing. a  pair  cf  wheels  racked  ae  pieces  over  froz- 
•en  clods,  or*m.eiadHag  a  set  ef  harness  .which  tiiad  praved 
tjnsulficicnt  to  withstand  the  'jei*k  out  -of  &  mud-hele — to 
-say  nothing  of  delays  end  venation  and  .absolute  «tci|)pQge 
<ef  business  ;af?er  a  v/eek'^  »wet  v/eaiher — Jess  of  temper 
Ending  <vont  vn  oaths  end  Wows -shivered  on  -exhausted 
Battle,  loss  <3f  ;CRsh  fcy  'half  and  quarter  ioads— rail  these 
•and  fifty  similar  losses  and  expenses  are  not  rhe'less  sure- 
ly toll  -evaded  .on  ;the  .road,  .though  no  agent  'of  a  rroatf 
ecompany  collecis  it,  froixs  .the  .stej)  -of  ihis ^aie-th 


24 

No  road  system,  based  on  day's  labor,  will  ma-Re  the 
roads  free;  for,  as  a  general  »ule,  ao  such  system  will 
make  them  good  r  and  bad  roads  never  can/  be,  in  any 
just  sense  of  the  teitm,  free  roads.  They  a-se1,  >n  fact,  a 
source  of  grievous  tax ;  of  tax  sometimes  s©  grievous, 
that  it  swallows  up-  all  the  profits  of  the  richast  land,  or 
causes  it  to  He,  for  long  ye>rs,  unpurchased,  eves  at  gov- 
ernment price-,  Tk«y  are  a  prolific  source  yf  poverty,  a 
daily  temptation  to-  careless  waste,  the  baa  of  thrift  and 
the  grave  ot  enterprise, 

la  some  eoiuwies  a  prejudice  will  be  found  to  exist 
against  the  graft;*,  by  ihe  County  Commissioaers,*  of  the 
right  of  way  over  any  State  or  cou.aty  road,  when  the 
sanoe  is  requested  for  a-  plank  road  ;  and  that  prejudice- 
will  entrench,  kself  behind  the  argmivent,  thai  a  public- 
highway,  which- has  everbeen^,  since  the  first  settlement 
of  the  cx!>»niy,  feee  aedepen  JG  all, — a  road  which  is  the 
result  o<  the-  later  oF  »be  present  residents  and  their  fa- 
thers before  them — should  not  beoome  the  property,  and 
be  subjected  to  tli&  GOBI  sol,  aad  to  the  taxes,  of  a  private 
company. 


*fctThe  directors -mny,  wittr.  tfe  eoT^ent  of  Ae  Bloar<£  of  Gaunt  j  Gom- 
miask>ner&  of  the  County,  locate  said  road  ower  any.  State  or  County 
road  or  other  public  highwav ;  and  thereupon. ssich  State  or  County  road 
or  other  public  highway,  or  s\u-h  portion  thereof  as  mny  be  se  occupkd. 
anci  appropriated  shall  be  and  become  the  property  of  said  company  for 
the  porpoee  of  making  and  maintaining  said  road  and  the  gates  and  toll- 
hoaees  thereon;.  And  the  Boards  of  Ccanty  Commissioners  of  the  sev- 
eral counties  of  this  State  are  hereby  authorized  to  give  their  consent  to* 
the  appropriation,  and  occupation  of  an?  such  State  or  County  road  or 
otlser  public  highway,  over  and  upon  which  any.  such  company  may  lo- 
cate any  such  road.." — General  Plank  Eoad  Law  of  ihe  State  of  Indiana^ 
Sec.  *.- 

Similar  provisions  are  incorporated  in.  the  Genecal  Plank.  Road.  La^s- 
of  New  Yock^  Ohio,  and  Illkiios, 


25 

All  changes  of  a  novel  character  require  explanation  be- 
fore they  can  obtain  favor.  The  County  Commissioners 
ought  not  to  be  expected  to  grant  the  right  of  way,  if  pub- 
lic sentiment  is  opposed  to  it.  It  should  be  the  care,  then, 
of  the  friends  of  any  plank  road,  ii>  case  difficulties  as  to 
the  right  of  way  present  themselves*  to  call  together  pub- 
lic meetings,  and  find  speakers  who- will  explain,  in  a  plain 
and  business-like  manner,  the  true  state  of  the  case.  Such 
appeals,  if  made  in  a  proper  spirit  and  sustained  by  prac- 
tical arguments,  cannot  fail  of  success.  This  course  was 
resorted  to  in  this  county  (Posey)  where,  for  a  time,  much 
disinclination  to  the  grant  of  way  existed;  and  with  so 
much  effect,  that,  when,  after  a  lapse  of  some  weeks 
memorials  were  presented  to  the  County  Board  for  and 
against  the  cession  of  the  State  road  to  the  Plank  Road 
Company,  ten  names  were  found  in  favor  of  the  grant  for 
every  one  opposed  to  it. 

This  matter  is  well  worth  some  trouble  on  the  part  of 
Plank  Road  Companies.  The  amount  saved  in  cost  of 
construction  by  locating  a  Plank  Road  along  the  line  of  an 
old  road  must  vary  much,  according  to  circumstances  :  but 
I  do  not  think  it  is  usually  less  than  fiomawo  to  three  h-an- 
dred  dollars  per  mile;  often  much  more."  If  the  new  road 
has  to  be  cut  through  woodland,  the  additional  expense 
will  exceed  that  amouivt;  for  heavy  grubbing  is  worth  up- 
wards of  three  hundred  dollars  a  mile.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  road  run  through  improved  farms,  the  amount 
demanded  for  right  of  way  by  the  owners  may  be  consid- 
erable. 

A  little  pains,  however,  duly  taken,  to  enlighten  public 
sentiment;  a  clear  and  distinct  refutation  of  the  popular 
er«-or,  that  our  present  ill-made  and  profitless  public  high- 
ways are  free,  and  that  tolled  roads  only  ar .'  taxe  ] ;  a  lucid 


26 

exposition  of  the  true  principle  of  road  taxation;  these 
will,  in  almost  every  case,  suffice  to  convince  the  great 
majority  of  tax-payers,  that  it  is  both  just  and  expedient  to 
abandon  to  those  who  will  effectually  improve  them,  roads 
which  we  ourselves  cannot  profitably  use  as  they  are,  nor 
under  any  moderate  rate  of  taxation,  make  what  they 
should  be. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ORIGIN    OF   PLANK    ROADS. 

Wood  has  been  employed,  in  various  forms, as  a  material 
for  improving  roads,  in  different  countries.  Wooden  rail- 
ways were  used,  in  some  of  the  English  collieries,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Wooden  pave- 
ments have  been  constructed  both  in  Europe  and  in  this 
country,  usually  of  hexagonal  blocks;  but  they  have  been 
found  too  expensive  on  an  ordinary  road,  and  too  perish- 
able to  replace  with  advantage,  in  the  crowded  streets  of  a 
city,  pavement  of  granite. 

Our  own  "cordaroy  roads,"  formed  of  young  trees  or 
heavy  rails,  laid  side  by  side,  across  wet  portions  of  a 
highway,  are  well  known  to  ail  western  travellers.  They 
are  very  valuable  as  a  substitute  for  a  swamp,  very  excu- 
sable in  the  first  settlement  of  a  country  ;  but,  as  a  perma- 
nent and  habitual  construction  in  a  well  settled  neighbor- 
hood, they  are  an  example  of  labor  unprofitably  expended, 
a  disreputable  evidence  of  indolence  and  lack  of  enter- 
prise in  the  inhabitants. 

NJ  mode  of  emplo3'ing  wood  as  a  material  for  roads, 


27 

has  been  so  successful  in  practice,  nor  so  profitable  to  all 
concerned,  as  the  laying  down  of  plank,  from  two  to  four 
inches  thick,  on  a  portion  of  the  road  ;  now  usually  made 
sufficiently  wide  for  a  single  track  only ;  sometimes  with 
wooden  turn-outs  at  intervals,  to  enable  vehicles  to  pass 
each  other;  more  frequently  with  an  earth  or  gravel  road, 
along  side  of  the  planked  portion,  sufficing  for  the  same 
purpose. 

This  mode  of  employing  wood  in  road  construction  is 
said  to  have  originated  in  Russia.  At  all  events,  plank 
roads  have  been  known  there  for  many  years.  Their  pre- 
cise mode  of  constrution,  in  that  country,  1  have  not  been 
able  to  learn;  but  I  conjecture,  that  they  were  made  wider 
than  eight  feet,  the  usual  and  most  approved  width  now 
among  us.  Certain  it  is,  that  when,  at  the  instance  of 
Lord  Sydenhatn,  who  had  seen  them  in  Russia,  and  who 
afterwards,  as  Governor  General  of  Canada,  recommended 
their  adoption,  they  were  tried  in  this  latter  country,  some 
of  the  roads,  first  constructed  near  Toronto,  were  made 
double-track,  of  plank  sixteen  feet  long ;  and  others,  in- 
tended for  single-track  only,  were  yet  made  twelve  feet  in 
width.  Whether,  on  the  Russian  roads,  it  was  deemed 
necessary  to  fasten  the  plank  down  in  any  way,  I  know 
not;  but  in  Canada  the  Board  of  Public  Works  directed 
that  they  should  be  nailed  to  the  stringers  or  sleepers  on 
which  they  rest  with  one  spike  at  each  end  for  planks 
twelve  inches  wide  or  less,  and  IWD  at  each  end  for  planks 
of  a  greater  width  ;  the  spikes  to  be  six  and  a  half  inches 
long,  three-eighths  of  an  in?.h  square  with  chisel-shaped 
edges  and  broad  heads,  and  to  be  driven  with  the  chisel- 
edge  across  the  fibres  of  the  wood. 

Various  experiments  were  also  made  in  Canada,  as  to 
the  best  mode  of  laying  the  plank.  On  the  first  road  lead- 


28 

ing  from  Quebec,  they  were  laid  lengihwise  of  ihe  road, 
instead  of  across  it;  and  on  the  Longeuil  and  Chumbly 
road,  in  ihe  vicinity  of  Montreal,  they  were  laid  oblique- 
ly, to -wit,  at  an  angle  of  furiy-five  degrees  to  the  line  of 
the  mad.  This  latter  plan  renders  necessary  longer  plank 
for  any  given  width  oi  road;  twelve  feet  plank  making  an 
eight  foot  track  only. 

None  of  these  experiments  succeeded,  and  their  trial 
and  failure  ought  to  be  recorded,  that  we  may  not,  as  some 
in  our  State  have  done,  try  over  again  what  is  already  ex- 
ploded. 

The  attempt  to  construct  a  double  track  plank  road  by 
laying  down  plank  sixteen  feet  long  (usually  on  four  string- 
ers*) proved  a  complete  failure.  The  theory  was,  that 
teams  going  from  town  should  drive  on  the  right  hand 
eight  feet  of  the  road,  and  those  returning  should  use  the 
other  eight  feet.  But  this  never  happens.  The  tendency 
of  travel,  as  al!  road-makers  ought  to  know,  is  ever  to  the 
centre  of  the  track.  No  rule  set  up  at  a  toll-gate,  nor 
any  thing  short  of  an  actual  division  of  the  track,  can 
make  it  otherwise,  In  praciice  it  was  found,  that  all  teams 
occupied  six  or  eight  feet  width  only,  in  the  centre,  and 
that  teamsters  turned  off  on  the  sides,  only  when  two  teams 
met.  The  consequence  was,  that,  after  a  time,  plank  of 
so  great  a  length,  continually  loaded  in  the  centre,  sprang 
upwards  at  the  ends,  in  spite  of  the  spikes  employed  to 
fasten  them.  And  so  much  inconvenience  was  experienced 
by  the  plank  becoming  thus  loosened  and  unsettled,  that 
they  were  finally  cut  in  half,  so  as  to  form  a  sort  of  double 
track;  and  this  expedient,  imperfect  as  it  was,  proved  to 
be  an  improvement  on  the  original  sixteen  foot  track. 

*oee  Canadian  Board  of  Works'  specification,  1845. 


29 

So  also  on  a  twelve-foot  Toronto  road.  When,  after 
seven  years  wear,  the  plank  (of  pine)  were  taken  up,  they 
were  found  worn  out  in  the  centre  of  the  road  only,  to  the 
width  of  seven  or  eight  feet,  while  on  the  surface  of  the 
two  outer  feet  on  each  side,  the  marks  of  the  saw  were 
still  plainly  to  be  seen.  This  was  proof,  that  one  third  of 
the  planking  was  useless,  and  that  one-third  of  the  expen- 
diture for  plank  had  been  wasted. 

Again,  on  an  eight-foot  track,  spiking  down  has  been 
proved  to  be  wholly  unnecessary,  if,  in  other  respects,  the 
road  is  properly  constructed.  The  wheels  run  within 
eighteen  inches  of  the  outer  edge  of  the  track;  and  this 
and  their  own  weight  are  found  to  keep  them  down  effec- 
tually in  their  places. 

As  to  the  experiment  of  laying  the  plank  lengthwise  of 
the  road,  it  was  speedily  abandoned.  Loaded  horses,  trav- 
elling along  the  grain  of  the  wood  instead  of  across  it,  ob- 
tained no  sufficient  foothold,  especially  in  wet  weather; 
the  plank  wore  into  ruts  ;  the  wheels  cut  in  between  the 
separate  plank  and  displaced  them.  In  a  word,  the  plan 
failed. 

Nor  did  that  of  laying  the  planks  at  an  oblique  angle 
succeed  much  better.  The  idea  was,  that  the  edges  of  the 
plank  would  not  wear  down  so  rapidly  as  if  the  wheels 
struck  them  directly,  and  that  the  zigzag  ends  of  the  plank 
would  facilitate  getting  from  the  earthroad  to  the  plank 
track.  But  in  practice  it  was  found,  that  when  a  single 
wagon  wheel  came  on  one  end  of  a  plank  thus  laid  askew, 
at  a  moment  when  the  other  wheel  had  not  yet  reached  it, 
the  effect  was,  to  tilt  up  the  other,  unloaded  end  of  the 
plank;  and  even  if  that  was  secured  by  spiking, gradually 
to  loosen  the  spike  and  cause  the  plank  to  spring,  notwith- 
standing. Each  end  of  the  plank  is,  in  its  turn,  subjected 


30 

to  iliis  action,  and  thus  the  road  is  gradually  broken  up. 
So  that  project  was  abandoned,  and  the  plank  laid  at  right 
angles  to  the  line  of  road. 

One  short  Canadian  road,  instead  of  being  laid,  as  is 
usual,  on  stringers  or  sleepers,  was  constructed  without 
any  ;  the  ground  being  merely  levelled  off,  and  the  plank 
laid  down  on  it.  I  have  not  heard  of  but  a  single  instance, 
and  that  in  the  State  of  New  York,  where  the  example 
was  followed.  And  in  both  it  is  said  to  have  resulted  well. 
This  may  be,  on  a  dry,  hard,  solid  soil;  on  our  rich  and 
yielding  alluvial  bottoms  I  should  certainly  not  advise  10 
riak  it.  Nor  is  the  saving  such  as  to  warrant  much  risk. 
Our  stringers,  on  the  Mount  Vernon  and  New  Harmony 
road,  cost  us  but  a  hundred  dollars  per  mile. 

The  system  of  plank  roads,  so  far  as  regards  details  of 
construction,  has  been,  like  other  improvements,  consid- 
erably matured  and  perfected,  since  its  naturalization  in  the 
United  States.  Its  details  vary,  however,  on  different  lines 
of  road.  I  have  endeavored  to  select  from  each,  so  far  as 
my  observations  extended,  what  seemed  best  and  most  ap- 
plicable, on  our  soil  and  in  our  clima:e;  and  present  a 
sketch  of  the  results,  in  the  following  pnges. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LAYING   OUT. 


The  early  bridle-paths  of  this  Western  country,  follow- 
ing the  leading  ridges,  and  connecting  settlement  with  set- 
tlement, or  conducting  to  the  distant  mill,  were  often  laid 


51 

out  wiih  more  judgment,  than  avenues  of  communication 
of  later  date  and  greater  pretension,  dignified  with  the 
name  of  State  and  County  roads. 

"The  passion  for  straightness,"  says  an  excellent  mod- 
ern writer  on  road-making,*  "is  the  great  fault  in  the  lo- 
cation of  most  roads  in  this  country,  which  too  often  re- 
mind us,  how 

"  The  King  of  France,  with  forty  thousand  men 
Marched  up  a  hill  and  then  marched  down  again;" 

"so  generally  do  they  clamber  over  hills  which  they 
could  so  much  more  easily  have  gone  round  ;  as  if  their 
makers,  like  Marshal  Wade,  had  '  formed  the  heroic  de- 
termination of  pursuing  straight  lines,  and  of  defying  na- 
ture and  wheel-carriages  both,  at  one  valiant  effort  of 
courage  and  of  science.'  " 

It  is  a  rule  recognized  in  engineering,  that  when  a  road 
cannot  be  made  at  the  same  time  straight  and  level, 
straightness  should  always  be  sacrificed  to  obtain  a  level, 
or  to  make  the  road  less  s'.eep.  There  is  a  point,  of 
course,  beyond  which  this  principle  must  not  be  carried. 
As  a  general  rule,  it  has  been  set  down,  thai  the  horizon- 
tal length  of  a  road  may  be  advantageously  increased,  for 
the  sake  ol  avoiding  an  ascent,  twenty  times  the  perpen- 
dicular height  to  be  saved  thereby ;  or  in  other  words  that 
it  is  profitable  to  make  a  circuit  that  shall  lengthen  a  road 
by  a  thousand  feet,  if  by  so  doing  we  can  escape  a  hill 
fifty  feet  high. 

A  case  in  point,  occurred  in  locating  the  Mount  Vernon 
Plank  Road,  which  chiefly  follows  the  old  State  road.  At 
one  point,  the  first  trace  followed  by  the  early  settlers  had 
wound  around  the  head  of  a  small  ravine,  increasing  the 

•Gillespie. 


32 

distance  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Some  blunderer, 
byway  ofimprovingthe  road,  had  subsequently  straighten- 
ed it,  so  as  to  cut  across  the  ravine  and  incur  a  steep  as- 
cent of  more  than  twenty  feet.  To  avoid  this  ascent,  one 
would  have  been  justified  in  going  around  three  times  as 
far  as  the  first  settlers  did.  The  road  was,  of  course,  re- 
stored to  its  original  location. 

In  lengthening  a  road  to  avoid  any  obstacle,  the  dis- 
tance is  not  increased  so  r»ach  as  is  usually  supposed. 
Say  that  the  direct  line  connecting  too  points,  A  and  B,  is 
twelve  mites;  and  that  it  is  desired  to  pass  through  a  point 
C,  midway  of  the  distance,  but  aside  frem  the  direct  line 
C 


1 

and  two  miles  distant  therefrom,  this  may  be  effected  with- 
out increasing  the  entire  distance  more  than  two-thirds  of 
a  mile,  Sganzin*  calculates,  that  if  a  road  between  two 
places  ten  miles  apart  were  made  to  curve  so  that  the  eye 
could  in  no  ,part  of  it  see  farther  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
at  once,  its  length  would  be  increased  beyond  thai  of 
a  perfectly  straight  road  between  the  same  points,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  only. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  also,  that  in  descending  into  a 
ravine  and  then  ascending  out  of  it,  or  in  ascending  a  hill 
and  descending  it  on  the  other  side  to  the  same  level  from 
which  we  storied,  we  are  diverging  from  a  straight  airline, 
as  surely,  as  if  we  suffered  our  course  to  diverted  to  the 
right  or  left,  in  order,  by  a  circuit,  to  avoid  the  hill  or  the 

*Course  of  Civil  Engineering,  Boston,  1837. 


(ravine  altogether.  It  is  true  the  divergence  is  very  rarely 
as  great  in  the  one  case  as  the  other ;  a  hill  must  be  some- 
what in  the  form  of  a  half  globe  to  make  it  sp:  yet  it  is 
often  no  inconsiderable  item,  and  should  in  all  cases,  be 
taken  into  account. 

Sometimes,  at  a  moderate  expense  for  excavation  and 
embaakment,  by  crossing  a  ravine  or  surmounting  a  hill, 
at  easy  grades,  a  considerable  circuit  may  be  profitably 
avoided.  In  what  cases  it  may  be  expedient  thus  to  pur- 
chase a  straight  line,  and  at  what  cost  such  a  line  may  ad- 
vantageously be  carried  over  any  given  obstacle,  are  ques- 
tions which  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  Engineer 
or  Locating  Commissioner.  -In  making  up  a  decision,  it 
should  not  be  forgotten,  that  the  annual  repairs,  per  rod, 
on  a  road  constructed  on  an  artificial  surface  (as  on  an 
embankment  or  through  an  excavation)  are  considerably 
greater  than  on  a  road  of  equal  breadth  running  on  the 
natural  surface. 

In  cases  where,  in  descending  a  hill,  we  have  a  choice 
between  its  northern  and  southern  slope,  it  is  worth  re- 
membering, that  a  southern  exposure  always  makes  a  road 
drier,  more  solid,  more  safe  in  winter,  and  less  expensive 
of  repair,  than  a  northern  one. 

When  there  occurs,  on  any  road,  an  embankment  of 
considerabe  height  and  length,  without  any  corresponding 
excavation  near  enough  to  supply  earth  for  the  same,  (as, 
for  example  across  a  creek  bottom  that  is  occasionally 
overflowed)  it  may  be  often  profitable  to  substitute  for  the 
same,  on  a  line  of  road  which  will  not  bear  heavy  cost,  a 
common  trestle-bridge.  Such  a  structure  is,  indeed,  tem- 
porary; yet,  if  well  made,  of  good  white  oak,  even  if  un- 
covered, it  will  last  twelve  or  fifteen  years  ;  and  there  is 
great  saving  in  cost.  A  trestle-bridge  on  the  Mount  Ver- 


34 

non  road,  26O  fiee-t  long,  112  feet  wide  and'  averaging  15> 
feet  high,  cost  but  one  dolla*  and  fomy.-five-  cent*  per  run- 
ning foot,  price  o£  timber-  included!;  or,  for  tke  whole- 
bridge  about  $3>7T::  while  a*  embankment  across- vhe  same- 
bottom wouid  have  cost,  including  a-  stoae  culvert,  some- 
twelne  or  thirteea  htiadred  dollars. 

A  little  thought  and  judgment  exerted  in  layrog  out  a* 
plank  roadv  will  <=>ften  suggest,  even  t©  those  who*  have  not 
the  advantage  of  professional  experience,,  simple-  expedi- 
ents by  which  considerable  saving  c»a  be  effected.  In  the- 
case  of  the- irestle-btidge  above  mentioned  an  exa*nple  oc- 
curred. That  bridge,  raised  about  three  feet  above  the- 
highest  water  mark,  was  of  coovenieat  anti.  suitable  height 
at  its  sowhetn  extremity,  ada-pung  uself  t.^ere  io  the  level 
of  the  road;  but  a*  its  noiuhem  end,  u  struck  a  hill,  at  a* 
point  to  ascend  fvom  which,  at  the  grade  to  which,  we  were- 
limited,  wwld  ha-ve  reojiir-ed  a<a  aver-age  cutting,  of  more- 
ihan  five  feet  for  upwards  of  a  q^uar.ter  of  a  mile;  and 
then,  through  the  summu,  a  cutting,  of  nearly  ten.  feet  for 
some  twenty  or  thirty  rods.  To  avoid  such  expense,  vhe- 
bridge,  instead  of  being  run  on  a  level,  as  is  usual,  was 
constructed  with  an  ascending  grada  of  one  foot  in  fifty ;, 
which  can  be  done- without  difficulty  or  injury  to  the  sol- 
idity of  the  structure :  its  northern,  extremity  was  thus- 
raised  about  five  feet ;  the  cutting:  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile- 
was  almost  ewure'.y  sa.ved,  and  the  cutting  tbwough  the 
summit  diminished  to  less  tha-n  five  feet.  The  saving  ef- 
fected by  this  expedient  amounted  to.  several  hundred  dol- 
lars. 

Again,  in  descending  the  principal  hill  on.  this  road,  near 
Harmony,  to  avoid  a  steep  pitch,  of  about  oae  foot  rise  in 
ten,  and  after  surveying  several  different  romes,  one  was 
selected  as  the  most  favorable,  upon  which  a  gradual  de- 


35 

scent  of  half  a  mile,  averaging  about  one  in  thirty-seven, 
was  obtained.  In  locating  this  line,  at  the  above  grade, 
the  most  expensive  portion  was  found  to  be  an  excava- 
tion, near  the  centre  of  the  descent,  averaging  nearly  six- 
teen feet  for  upwards  of  one  hundred  yards  and  furnishing 
considerably  more  earth  than  was  required  for  the  adjoin- 
ing embankments.  To  avoid  so  deep  a  cut,  instead  of  run- 
ning the  grade  of  1  in  37  down  the  entire  hill,  the  upper 
portion  was  ruii  with  a  grade  averaging  about  1  in  40,  while 
on  the  lower  half  the  grade  was  increased  to  about  1  in  34. 
In  this  way  the  deep  cutting  was  reached  at  a  point  more 
than  six  feet  higher  than  before;  the  excavation  conse- 
quently decreased  to  an  average  of  less  than  ten  feet,  and 
the  excavation  and  embankment  balanced.  This  was  ef- 
fected without  exceeding  the  maximum  grade  (1  in  30); 
and  it  may  be  considered  to  have  improved,  rather  than 
injured,  the  location  of  the  road.  Gillespie,  speaking  of 
what  roads  ought  to  be  as  to  their  slopes,  says: 

••  If  the  ascent  be  one  of  great  length,  it  will  be  advan- 
tageous to  make  steepest  the  lowest  portion  of  it,  upon 
which  the  horses  come  with  their  full  strength,  and  to 
make  the  slopes  greater  towards  the  summit  of  the  ascent, 
to  correspond  to  the  continually  decreasing  strength  of  the 
fatigued  horses."* 

1  select  examples  which  to  some  may  seem  too  simple 
and  self-suggesting  to  merit  record,  because  this  treatise  is 
strictly  popular  in  its  character,  intended  for  those  who 
know  nothing,  professionally,  of  engineering,  and  who 
may  yet  be  called  upon,  unaided  perhaps  except  by  a 
county  surveyor,  to  lay  off  new  and  possibly  difficult  lines 
of  road. 

*3.oads  and  Railroads,  p.  42. 


36 

A  plank  road,  or  indeed  any  improved  road,  ought  to 
have  no  curves  run  with  a  radius  oflessthan  one  hundred 
feet;  especially  when  constructed  on  a  steep  hill-side.  A 
carriage  driven  at  speed  around  a  more  contracted  curve 
than  this,  especially  during  ice,  runs  some  risk  of  upset- 
ting ;  and  in  case  of  horses  running  away,  the  danger  be- 
comes imminent. 

To  the  unprofessional  a  few  memoranda  regarding  the 
mode  of  tracing  curves  may  be  serviceable.  By  a  calcu- 
lation unnecessary  to  detail  here,  it  will  be  found,  that  if 
we  are  running  with  stations  of  two  rods,  or  33  feet  each, 
and  if  we  deflect  one  degree  at  the  end  of  each  station,  so 
as  to  make  a  curve,  of  which  the  chords  are  thus  33  feet 
in  length,  that  curve  has  a  radius  of  1890  feet.  Now  this 
quantity,  (of  1890)  becomes  a  constant,  by  dividing  which 
by  any  given  number  uf  degrees  of  curvation,  the  radius 
corresponding  to  that  number  of  degrees  may  be  found. 

Thus,  (always  supposing  the  stations  to  be  33  feet  each) 
if,  at  the  end  of  each  we  deflect  twenty  degrees,  the  radius 
of  the  curve  we  are  thus  describing  is  1890  divided  by 
20;  or  ninety-four  feet  and  a  half.  If  the  deflection  is 
about  eighteen  degrees  and  nine  tenths,  the  curve  will  be 
of  100  feet.  If  the  deflection  be  double  that  amount,  the 
curve  will  have  a  radius  of  50  feet  only;  and  so  on.  It 
is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that,  in  passing  from  a  straight 
line  to  a  curve  (as  that  straight  line  is  of  the  nature  of  a 
tangent,  not  of  a  chord,  to  the  curve  in  question)  the  first 
deflection  must  be  only  half  as  great  as  at  the  end  of  each 
succeeding  station. 

Thus,  in  practice,  if  with  stations  of  33  feet,  we  desire 
to  commence,  from  one  end  of  a  straight  line  of  road,  a 
curve  of  100  foot  radius,  the  first  deflection  must  be  of 
about  nine  degrees  and  forty-five  hundredth^;  the  next,  at 


37 

the  end  of  33  feet  further,  of  eighteen  degrees  and  nine- 
tenths  ;  and  we  must  continue  this  same  deflection  of 
eighteen  and  nine-tenth  degrees  at  the  end  of  each  suc- 
ceeding 33  feet,  so  long  as  we  desire  to  continue  the  curve. 

I  refrain  from  further  enlarging  on  this  and  kindred 
branches  of  the  subject,  as  they  exceed  the  limit  and  scope 
of  this  brief  treatise;  and  as  no  important  plank  road 
ought  to  be  undertaken,  without  consulting  good  works  on 
road-making,  whcyre  the  above  and  all  oiher  branches  are 
treated  at  large.  Gillespie's  "  Roads  and  Rail  Roads"  is 
one  of  the  best. 

Little  engineering  is  commonly  required  in  laying  out 
plank  roads.  In  New  York  they  are  usually  laid  down  on 
the  lines  of  old  State  roads,  deviating  from  these  only 
when  the  limit  of  grade  fixed  upon  is  exceeded.  Where 
much  of  the  line  is  new,  however,  and  there  is  considera- 
ble embankment  and  excavation,  an  engineer's  spirit-level, 
in  the  hands  of  some  one  who  understands  its  use,  is  in- 
dispensable. It  is  ;:lso  requisite,  that  whoever  locates  the 
road  and  sets  the  stakes  for  the  contractor,  preparatory  to 
grading,  should  be  able  accurately  to  calculate  quantities 
of  excavation  and  embankment,  in  thf>  various  forms  in 
which  these  usually  occur.* 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  it  is  a  superfluous  ex- 


*The  blundering  method  of  calculating  cubical  contents  by  "averag- 
ing end-areas,"  though  usual  enough,  should  never  be  permitted.  A 
company  may  be  very  considerable  losers  by  allowing  it,  as  it  gives  an 
excess,  often  of  ten  per  cent,  or  more  beyond  the  true  amount ;  the  error 
consisting  in  estimating  the  contents  of  sundry  pyramidal  masses,  by 
multiplying  their  bases  by  half  their  heights,  instead  of  by  one-third  their 
heights  only,  and  thus  making  their  cubical  contents  one-sixthgreaterthan 
they  really  are.  For  a  detailed  exposition  of  this  error  and  an  explana- 
tion of  the  proper  mode  of  calculating  cubical  contents  in  excavation  or 
embankment,  see  the  Appendix  to  Gillespis's  work. 


38 

pense  to  engage  the  permanent  services  of  a  resident  en- 
gineer, throughout  the  term  of  construction  of  a  plank 
road,  as  is  always  necessarily  done  in  constructing  a  rail- 
road. The  cost  of  the  former  improvement  per  mile, 
when  compared  with  the  latter,  is  so  small,  that  it  will  not 
bear  high  salaries  and  other  heavy  incidental  expenses. 
These  soon  run  up  to  be  a  large  per  centape  of  the  entire 
cost  of  the  road,  and  thus  materially  influence  the  ultimate 
value  of  the  stock.  The  cheapness  of  the  plank  road  is 
ono  of  its  chief  recommendations  ;  its  construction,  ther<1- 
fore,  should,  in  every  department,  be  managed  with  all 
reasonable  economy. 

It  should,  nevertheless,  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  ser- 
vices of  a  competent  engineer,  when  really  required,  (as, 
to  determine  the  relative  cost  of  two  or  more  proposed 
lines  of  road  up  an  expensive  hill,  or  to  set  the  stakes  for 
cutting  and  filling  on  the  same,  or  to  calculate  with  accu- 
racy a  heavy  job  of  excavation  and  embankment)  may 
often  save  their  cost,  many  tines  over.  In  this,  as  in  oth- 
er matters,  we  ou»ht  to  avoid  pinning  into  either  extreme, 
whether  of  profitless  extravag-ince  or  of  equally  profitless 
parsimony. 

In  laying  out  plank  roads,  the  limit  of  grade  is  a  matter 
upon  which  much  of  their  utility  depends.  This  subject, 
and  the  laws  which  govern  it,  are  of  sufficient  importance 
to  occupy  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER  V, 


The  amount  of  power  required  to  overcome  tire  frrctkm 
•cff  any  vehicle,  or,  rn  other  words,  the  draught  necessary 
to  s>et  and  'keep  it  in  motion,  is  technically  termed  its  trac- 
tion. On  •$.  railroad  lifhe  traction  Corresponds  to  tfe«  power 
•ewerted  by  the  locomotive  i«  dragging  -ohe  trai-n  bebrnd  it. 
On  &  plank  or  >macadn«HEed  road  it  is  tfte  force  -eweried  by 
a  horse  against  nis  -collar  in  drawsngtmy  load.  When  we 
speak  of  a  traction  -®f  fifty  pounds,  we  mean  a  horizontal 
•draught  that  \voald  suffice  t®  raise  a  weight  ef  fifty  pounds 
perpendicularly;  for  example,  by  passing  a  rope  °uached 
no  the  w«ight  ov«r  t  pully-,  mukmg  it  fast  to  dae  sw>ingle- 
uree,  and^causing  the  horse  to  .-advance, 

The  Inaction  <*n  a  perfectly  level  and  -well  *nade  rail- 
road, with  tar  wheels  of  th«  proper  construction  and  m  the 
^best  order,  is  usually  set  down  at  <eight  .pounds  to  the  ton 
(neu,  of  2,000  Ibs.)  In  practice,  howe^^erTiit  may  be  -con- 
sidered v®  be  te»$  petmds.  That  is  to  say,  -on  s»oh  a  rail- 
iroad  it  is  usually  found,  that  the  «ame  -horizontal  draught 
which  weuld  raise  R  weight  often  pounds  per[>endjc«larlyt 
will  keep  .in  motioaa  a  car  -weighit^  one  ton. 

It  is  to.be  regretied,  that  no  trustworthy 


*The  instrument  employed  in.uuch  expeiiments  is 
-eter,  resembling  in  principle  and  general  constructiea, 
:ances  in  common  use.  The  draught  or  horizontal  .fierce  exerted  by  a 
.horse  or  other  motive  power,  cempresses  a  spiral  spring,  lihe  shortening 
-of  which,  asdndicated  by  a  graduated  scale,  gives  the  amount  of  traction 
•called  forth.  A  full  description  of  this  instrument  will  be  found  in  Par- 
Treatise  ^on  Roudsi,'1  London,  4838. 


210979 


40 

have  yet  been  made  to-  determine',  with  accuracy,  the  trac- 
tion on  Plank  Roads.  We  have  the  data,  however,  whence- 
to  derive  an  approximating  estimate.  Gollespie  gives  the- 
traction  on  a  well  made  pavement  at  31  pounds  to  the  ton. 
A  French  writer,  Poncelet,  gi-ves  the  traction  en  "oak. 
planks  not  dressed"  at  21  Ibs.  Anoti)«r  French  writer 
gives  the  traction  of  carts  on  aa  •' onkea  platform"  at  less 
than  29  Ibs.,  but  of  "trucks  of  two  tons"  on  the  same 
platform  at  nearly  44  Ibs.  Taking  the  average  of  various 
experiments,  and  correcting  this  by  the  opinion  of  those' 
who  have  experience  i-rv  the  matter,  1  place  the  traction  or* 
A  dead  level  plank  road,  well  constructed  of  hard  wood, 
the  load  being  on  a  common  four-wheeled  wagon,  with* 
good  iron  axles,  the  wheels  in  good  order  aad  the  pace- 
being  a  walk,  at  forty  pou-sds  to  the  ton ;  or  four  times  the- 
traction  on  the  best  railroad.  On  a  macadamized  road, 
well  made  and  in  good  order,  th«  traction  will  exceed  sixty 
pounds;  while  on  our  ordinary  earth  roads,  take  the  aver- 
age of  the  year,  the  traction  may  be  set  down  at  not  less 
than  a  hundred  and  twenty  poimaLs;  or  three  limes  the 
traction  on  a  plank  road. 

To  express  m  differeat  terms  tl*e  same  results,  the  trac- 
tion on  a  level,  is,  on  the  plank  road,  two  per  cent,  of  the- 
entire  load;  on  a  macadamized  road,  more  than  three  per 
cent.;  and  on  a  eommon  earth  roud  six  per  cent,  of  the- 
same. 

Where  tine  surface  is  perfectly  level,  then  a  horse  at  a 
walk,  caa,  with  the  same  exertion*,  draw,  oa  a  good  pla-nk 
road,  three  thousand  pounds,  as  on  the  average  of  our  pre- 
sent roads,  he  can  draw  one  thousand  pounds. 

But  where  the  surface  varies  from  alevelrth.eu,  (thougb 


41 

some  writers  seem  inclined  to  a  contrary  opinion,*)  the 
smoother  the  roud,  the  greater  the  necessity  for  easy 
grades.  If,  on  a  plank  road,  the  grades  are  left  as  steep  as 
on  many  of  our  present  highways  they  are,  a  great  portion 
of  the  advantages  of  the  improve.rient  are  lost.  The 
truth  of  this  assertion  will  more  clearly  appear,  if  we  ex- 
amine the  principle  of  the  matier. 

The  rule  to  estimate  the  increase  of  traction  on  ascend- 
ing grades,  is  a  very  simple  one.  It  is  this:  for  every 
foot  rise  ingoing  one  hundred  feet,  add,  to  the  traction  as 
estimated  for  a  level,  one  per  cent,  of  the  entire  load.  | 

For  example:  if  a  wagon,  weighing  with  its  load  two 
thousand  pounds,  come  to  a  hill,  th-it  rises  with  a  slope  of 
two  feet  in  a  hundred;  and  if  the  traction  of  that  load,  on 
a  dead  level,  is  sixty  pounds;  then,  to  find  the  traction  on 
the  hill,  we  must  add  two  per  cent  of  two  thousand  pounds; 
or  forty  pounds ;  making,  with  the  above  sixty  pounds,  a 
total  of  one  hundred  pounds. 

Let  us  now  observe,  how,  under  this  rule,  the  matter 
stands,  in  regard  to  grades,  as  between  plank  roads  and 
unimproved  earth  roads.  Suppose  that  two  horses,  on  a 
well  made  plank  road,  draw  three  tons,  or  6,000  Ibs.  On- 


*Geddos,  a  New  York  engineer,  in  a  recent  useful  little  tract  on  Plank 
Roads,  says:  "Hills  are  less  objectionable  on  plank  roads  than  they  are 
on  any  other  roads.  The  plank  make  a  better  surface  than  any  other 
thing  that  has  been  tried ;  and  the  power  required  to  draw  a  load  up  a 
hill  is  less  on  plank  than  on  gravel  or  broken  stone." 

This  last  assertion  is  correct.  The  power  required  to  draw  up  tlie 
tame  load  is  less.  But  that  is  nol  the  practical  question.  The  loud  to 
be  drawn  up,  if  it  be  a  full  one,  is  three  times  as  great  on  the  plank  as 
on  an  ordinary  road.  And  the  increased  power  required  to  draw  such 
a  load  up  any  given  slop3,  bears  a  much  greater  proportion  to  the 
draught  of  the  same  lond  on  a  level,  than  does  a  similar  increase  on  th» 
lighter  load  drawn  over  an  ordinary  road,  to  Us  draught  on  a  level. 


this  load,  the  traction,  on  a  dead  level,  at  40  Ibs  per  ton, 
is  120  Ib.  On  an  ascending  grade  of  one  foot  in  ;he  hun- 
dred, it  is  increased  one  per  cent,  on  6,000  Ibs;  that  is,  60 
Ibs:  making  the  entire  traction  on  that  grade  180  Ibs.  On 
a  grade  of  two  feet  in  the  hundred,  we  must  add  120  Ibs; 
on  a  grade  of  three  feet  to  the  hundred,  180  Ibs;  and  on  a 
grade  of  four  feet  to  the  hundred,  240  Ibs:  making  the 
total  traction  on  the  last  grade,  say  of  one  foot  rise  in 
twenty-five,  360  Ibs  :  that  is,  three  times  the  draught  ex- 
erted on  a  dead  level. 

But  now,  let  us  suppose  two  horses,  on  an  ordinary 
earth  road,  to  draw  one  ton  or  2.000  Ibs.  The  traction, 
on  a  level,  is  120  Ibs;  the  same  as  that  of  the  load  of  6,- 
OOO  Ibs  on  the  level  p'ank  road.  But  on  arriving  at  a  hill, 
does  the  draught  increase  in  the  same  proportion  as  on  that 
C.OOO  Ibs  ?  Let  us  see.  On  an  ascending  grade  of  one 
fool  in  a  hundred,  the  increase,  being  one  per  cent,  on  the 
load  as  before,  is,  in  this  case,  but  one  per  cent,  on  2.000 
Ibs,  or  20  Ibs;  and  on  a  grade  «  f  four  feet  to  the  hundred, 
or  one  foot  in  twenty-five,  it  is  but  80  Ibs.  This  added  10 
120  Ibs.,  the  traction  on  a  level,  gives  but  200  Ibs.  The 
Joad,  instead  of  being  trebled,  as  on  a  plank  road  at  the 
same  grade,  is  not  even  doubled.'  it  is  increased  only  by  two- 
thirds  of  the  original  amount.  With  a  traction  of  120  Ibs 
to  the  ton,  on  a  level,  (as  on  an  ordinary  earth  roaJ)  it 
would  require  an  ascending  grade  of  12  feel  in  the  100, 
or  one  foot  rise  in  eight  and  a  third,  to  treble  the  traction. 

It  follows,  that  a  grade  of  I  foot  in  25  is  as  steep  in  pro- 
portion for  a  plank  road,  as  a  grade  of  one  foot  in  e  ght 
and  a  third  is,  for  a  common  earth  road;  or.  in  other 
words,  that  the  former  grade  increases  the  draught  on  a 
Jo  id  in  the  same  proportion  on  a  plunk  road,  as  thfe  latter 
does  on  a  common  earth  road. 


This  happens ,  not  because  the  actual  increase  of  draught 
caused  by  an  ascent,  is  greater,  on  any  given  load,  at  any 
given  grade,  on  a  plank  road  than  on  a  common  earth 
road:  it  is  not  greater;  a  horse  can  pull  up  any  grade  on 
the  plank  more  than  he  can  on  the  earth :  but  only  because 
the  increase  bears  a  greater  proportion  to  the  level  traction 
in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other;  or,  otherwise  expressed, 
because  the  per  centage  on  the  heavy  load  which  a  horse 
can  draw  on  the  plank  road  is  greater  than  the  same  per 
centage  on  the  lighter  load  which  is  all  he  can  draw  on  the 
earth  roid. 

The  plank,  as  a  surface-material  for  a  road,  overcomes 
a  great  portion  of  the  friction,  whether  on  a  level  or  on  a 
hill;  but  it  cannot  overcome  the  principle  of  increase  on 
ascents,  which  remains  unchanged  whether  the  ascending 
grade  be  laid  with  the  smooth  and  costly  iron  rail,  or  con- 
stitute part  of  the  line  of  the  roughest  and  muddiest  high- 
way. 

On  a  railr  ad  the  influence  of  this  principle  is  felt,  far 
more  sensibly,  even,  than  on  a  plank  road;  as  any  one 
may  have  remarked,  who  has  seen  a  horse  drag,  with  ease, 
a  car  along  a  level  portion  of  a  railway,  but  suddenly  ar- 
rested by  the  increased  traction,  on  arriving  at  an  ascent 
so  gentle  as  to  be  hardly  perceptible  to  the  eye.  As  a 
horse,  on  a  railroad,  can  draw  four  times  as  heavy  a  load 
as  on  a  plank  road,  an  ascent  of  a  single  foot  in  a  hun- 
dred, on  the  former,  adds  the  same  proportion  to  the 
draught  of  the  load,  as  an  ascent  of  four  feet  in  a  hundred, 
on  the  latter. 

In  Gayffier's  "  Manual  of  Bridges  and  Highways,"*  tho 
extra  exertion  which  a  horse  m:»y  properly  be  required 

*?age  9. 


occasionally  to  put  forth,  beyond  what  he  can  regularly  and 
constantly  draw,  is  put  at  double  his  usual  exertion.  Oiher 
writers  set  down  the  proportion  at  three  times.  This  latter 
limit  should  not  be  exceeded;  and  it  is  desirable  to  keep 
somewhat  within  it. 

If  Gayffier's  estimate  be  made  the  basis  of  a  rule  as  to 
grades ;  that  is,  if  a  horse,  at  the  steepest  hill,  should  not 
be  required  to  exert  more  than  double  his  ordinary  exer- 
tion on  a  level ;  then  the  maximum  grade  on  a  plank  road 
should  not  exceed  two  fuot  rise  in  a  hundred,  or  one  in 
fifty;  since,  at  that  grade,  the  traction  is  twice  as  great  as 
on  a  level.  And  if  we  look  to  perfection  in  laying  out 
such  roads,  it  is  undoubtedly  desirable,  that  grades  thereon 
should  be  limited  to  one  fool  rise  in  fifty  as  a  maximum. 
That  slope  constitutes,  in  theory,  what  is  technically 
termed  the  ''angle  of  repose;"  that  is,  the  grade  upon 
which  a  wagon  or  carriage  descending  would  require  from 
the  horses,  no  exertion  either  to  draw  it  down  or  to  hold  it 
back.  In  practice,  however,  with  ordinary  wheels  in  usual 
order,  I  think  that  a  hill  with  a  slope  of  one  in  forty  will 
more  nearly  fulfill  the  above  «.  undiiions;  or,  in  other 
words,  that  a  descent  of  one  in  forty  on  a  plank  road,  is 
that  degree  of  steepness  on  which  if  an  ordinary  wagon 
or  carriage  be  placed,  it  will  remain  stationary;  but  if  it 
receive  a  slight  impulse,  it  will  descend  slowly  by  its  own 
weight. 

But  to  attain  theoretical  perfection;  to  limit  the  max- 
imum grade  of  a  plank  road  to  1  in  50,  or  even  to  1  in  40, 
commonly  demands  a  cost,  which,  on  an  ordinary  line  of 
road,  would  not  be  justified. 

The  second  estimate  alluded  to,  namely  that  a  horse 
should  not  be  required, on  extra  occasions,  to  put  forth  more 
than  three  times  his  usual  exertion,  furnishes  a  rule  more 


easily  followed  out  in  practice.  On  a  grade  of  1  in  25, 
the  increased  traction  being  four  per  cent.,  while  the  trac- 
tion on  a  dead  level  is  two  per  cent.,  the  load  is  just  tre- 
bled. And  to  this  limit,  in  my  opinion,  the  grades  on 
plank  roads  should,  in  all  cases  where  it  is  practicable  at 
any  reasonable  expense,  be  restricted.  It  would,  indeed, 
be  better  that  that  limit  should  not  be  reached.  Gillespie 
recommends  one  foot  rise  in  thirty  as  a  just  medium  be- 
tween too  great  expense  and  too  steep  grades.  This  is  the 
limit  adopted  on  the  Mount  Vernon  and  New  Harmony 
road.  Nothing  short  of  a  lack  of  funds,  or  a  heavy  per 
centage  of  additional  cost  in  construction,  should  prevent 
its  adoption  on  all  plank  roads.  At  that  limit,  the  traction 
on  ihe  steepest  hill  will  somewhat  exceed  twice  and  a  half 
what  it  is,  on  a  level. 

Nor  let  it  be  imagined,  that  it  is  of  little  moment, 
whether,  on  but  one  hill  on  a  long  line  of  road,  the  max- 
imum grade  be  departed  from.  A  single  heavy  grade, 
especially  if  it  be  of  considerable  length,  tends  to  dimin- 
ish, for  all  practical  purposes,  the  power  of  draught  on  the 
entire  line.  It  is  useless  to  draw  to  the  bottom  of  a  hill  a 
load  which  the  horses  employed  cannot  drag  up  it;  for  the 
expedient  of  keeping,  at  the  foot  of  such  an  ascent,  spare 
hotses  to  hire,  though  sometimes  adopted  in  England,  is 
troublesome,  and  will  not  be  resorted  to  in  this  country. 
A  single  over-steep  grade,  then,  becomes  the  one  weak  link 
in  a  strong  chain;  diminishing,  in  practice,  the  available 
strength  of  the  whole  line. 

Upon  the  same  principle,  it  is  desirable,  that  the  grade 
on  the  longest  hill  occurring  on  any  road,  should  not  reach 
the  maximum  limit.  That  becomes,  as  it  were,  the  pinch- 
ing point  of  the  road;  the  point  where  a  greater  amount  of 
sustained  exertion  is  required  from  the  horses,  than  at  any 


46 

other.  And  if,  therefore,  at  thai  point,  we  diminish  the 
exertion,  the  general  capability  of  the  whole  road  is 
thereby  increased.  Thus,  on  the  Mount  Vernon  road,  the 
longest  hill  is  that  descending  into  the  valley  in  which 
Harmony  is  situated.  Its  length,  as  has  already  been 
slated,  is  half  a  mile,  and  its  grade  averages  but  1  in  37. 
Had  it  been  run  up  to  the  maximum  limit  of  1  in  30,  the 
exertion  there  demanded  of  the  horses  would  have  been 
greater  than  on  any  other  hill  throughout  the  road.  As  it 
is,  by  making  gen'.ler  the  grade,  the  length  of  the  ascent  is, 
as  it  were  counteracted,  and  the  total  amount  of  fatigue  to 
the  horses  is  probably  not  greater  than  on  a  hill  only  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  long,  graded  throughout  to  a  slope  of  1  in  30. 
The  shorter  the  hill,  the  less  the  evil  of  a  heavy  grade 

It  is  proper,  however,  here  to  remark,  that,  on  many  of 
the  New  York  plank  roads  which  seem  to  have  satisfied 
the  public,  the  above  recommendations  have  been  widely 
departed  from.  On  very  few  of  them  has  the  maximum 
grade  been  set  as  low  cs  1  in  30;  many  of  them  have  oc- 
casional grades  running  as  high  as  one  foot  rise  in  a  rod, 
or  about  6  feet  in  100,  and  there  are  examples  of  slv  rt 
pitches  with  a  grade  of  1  in  10;  even  upon  which,  it  is 
said,  horses  do  not  slip. 

Sometimes  these  heavy  grades  are  almost  necessitated 
by  the  character  of  the  country  through  which  the  road 
runs.  The  plank  road,  for  example,  from  Cazcnovia  to 
Chittenango,  winds  down  a  precipitous  mountain  glen  and 
passes  a  water-fall  140  feet  high;  the  entire  descent,  in 
about  ten  miles,  being  800  feel.  Its  occasional  grades, 
therefore,  of  a  foot  rise  in  a  rod,  are  only  what  might  be 
expected  on  such  a  line.  On  other  roads,  however,  where 
the  line  was  comparatively  favorable  and  where  a  giade  of 
1  in  30  could  have  been  attained  at  small  extra  cosi,  I 
found  the  limit  of  1  in  20  adopted  as  "good  enough." 


47  , 

Before  \ve  imitate  such  an  example,  !RI  us  compare  the 
practical  results  from  the  grade  of  1  in  30,  the  maximum 
on  our  Mount  Vernon  road,  and  that  of  1  in  16^,  the  max- 
imum on  the  Cazenovia  and  many  other  New  York  roads. 
Put  the  load  at  one  ton.  Then, 

On  the  Mount  Vernon  Road,  Ibs. 

Traction  of  one  ton,  on  a  level,       -  -  40 

Increase  on  grade  of  1  in  30,  3£  per  cent,  on 

200  Ibs. 6&1 

Total  traction  of  one  ton  on  steepest  hill.     -     106| 

But  on  the  Cazenovia  Road,  Ibs. 

Traction  of  one  ton,  on  a  level,  as  before,         -  40 
Increase  on  grade  of  1  in  16i,  say  6  per  cent, 

on  2000  Ibs.             -         -         -"       -         -  120 

Total  traction  of  one  ton  on  steepest  hill,          1(>0 

The  draught  in  the  one  case  is  fifty  per  cent,  more  than 
in  the  other.  Up  the  steepest  grade  of  our  road,  there- 
fore, a  team  could  draw  three  tons  with  the  same  ease  as 
it  could  draw  two  tons  up  the  steepest  jjrade  of  the  Cazeno- 
via road. 

Road  grades  are  sometimes  measured  by  degrees,  indi- 
cating the  angle  of  ascension,  instead  of  being  measured 
bv  the  number  of  feet  perpendicular  rise  for  each  hundred 
feet  horizontal.  A  slope  or  grade  of  one  degree  corres- 
ponds to  1  fool  rise  in  57,  or  about  a  foot  and  three  quar- 
ters rise  in  100:  a  grade  of  two  degrees  corresponds  to  1 
in  29,  or  about  three  and  a  half  feet  in  100:  a  grade  of 
three  degrees  corresponds  to  1  in  19.  or  about  five  feet  and 
a  quarter  in  100:  and  a  grade  olfour  degrees  corresponds 
to  1  in  14,  or  about  7  feet  rise  in  100.  This  laiter  grade 


is,  1  believe,  the  maximum  on  ihe  Cumberland  road  where 
it  crosses  the  Alleghenies.  On  the  Syracuse  and  Central 
Square  plank  road,  already  noticed  as  the  first  ever  con- 
structed in  the  United  States,  one  hill  was  left  with  a  grade 
exceeding  the  above;  namely  of  1  in  12,  or  about  8  feel 
rise  in  a  hundred;  but  the  length  of  this  steep  ascent  was 
thirty  or  forty  rods  only. 

Such  a  grade  on  a  plank  road  compels  a  horse  to  put 
forth  five  times  the  exertion  demanded  from  him  on  a 
level.  It  need  not  be  added  that  a  horse  can  never,  pro- 
fitably or  safely,  be  called  on  for  such  an  exertion  ;  unless, 
indeed,  we  suppose  his  load  on  a  level,  to  be  but  half  of 
that  which,  on  a  properly  graded  road,  he  ought  to  draw. 
The  practical  effect  is  to  reduce,  to  one  half  what  they 
should  be,  the  capabilities  of  the  road. 

If  plank  roads  are  to  be  useful  and  profitable  servants 
to  us,  we  must  not  suffer  them  to  be  shorn  of  half  their 
strength. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CONSTRUCTION.       EXCAVATION    AND    EMBANKMENT. 

Where  the  natural  surface  alon<r  the  line  of  any  pro- 
jected road  becomes  steeper  than  the  limit  of  the  maximum 
grade  that  may  have  been  adopted  by  the  road  Company, 
the  grading  ought  to  be  let  out  by  contract  to  the  lowest 
-responsible  bidder. 

Previously  to  letting  out  any  contracts,  general  specifi- 
cations ought  to  be  adopted ;  and  these  should  be  append- 


114 

49 

ed  to  every  separate  contract  and  made  a  part  of  the  same. 
These  general  specifications  ought  to  provide: 

1.  That  contractors  shall  not,  during  the  progress  of  the 
work,  obstruct  any  road  over  which  the  right  of  way  may 
have  been  granted,  nor  any  road  crossing  the  same. 

2.  That  the  work  shall  be  commenced  at  any  point  de- 
signated by  the  Acting  Commissioner;  and  shall  be  execut- 
ed in  accordance  with  stakes  which  he  will  cause  to  be  set 
to  mark  the  location  of  the  road,  its  slopes,  &c.     And 
reasonable  care  should  be  required  of  the  contractor  to  pre- 
serve these,  while  the  work  is  in  progress. 

3.  That  any  increase  or  diminution  of  the  amount  of 
work  of  the  same  description  as  named  in  the  contract, 
shall  be  paid  for,  or  deluded,  at  contract  prices. 

4.  That  whenever  materials  delivered  for  the  use  of  the 
road  are  rejected  by  the  Acting  Commissioner  or  his  agent, 
they  must  be  removed  at  the  expense  of  the  contractor. 

5.  That  all  contracts  shall  be  fulfilled  under  the  personal 
superintendance  of  the  contractor;  and  not  sub-let. 

6.  That  all  work  remains  at  the  risk  of  the  contractor 
until  fully  completed  and  received  by  the  Acting  Commis- 
sioner. 

7.  That  estimates  of  the  work  done   shall  be  made 
monthly,  if  required ;  that  85  per  cent,  of  the  estimate 
shall  be  paid,  and  15  per  cent,  retained  till  completion  of 
the  work,  as  security  for  its  faithful  performance. 

8.  That  the  embankments  be  formed  of  pure  earth,  sand, 
clay,  gravel  or  rock,  and  that  no  perishable  or  vegetable 
matter  be  admitted  into  them,  except  stumps,  which  may 
remain,  provided  they  do  not  reach  within  one  foot  of  the 
surface  of  the  embankment. 

9.  That  the  embankment  be  twenty  feet  wide  at  top, 
unless  otherwise  specially  directed;  that  excavations  be 


a  r 


\ 


twenty-five  feet  wide  at  bottom,  with  side  ditches,  each 
xwo  and  a  half  feet  wide. 

10.  Tba^the  side  slopes  of  embankments  have  a  slope 
of  one  and  a  half  foot  horizontal  to  one  foot  vertical ;  and 
that  excavations  have  a  slope  of  one  foot  vertical  to  one 
foot  horizontal. 

11.  That  the  side-slopes  of  excavations  be  neatly  and 
evenly  dressed,  and  that  all  siumps  be  removed  therefrom. 
or  burnt. 

12.  That  all  stumps  on  the  line  of  the  road  be  burnt  or 
otherwise  disposed  of,  as  the  Acting  Commissioner  shall 
direct:  the  grubbing  or  burning  of  all  stumps  in  excava- 
tions exceeding  one  foot  in  depth  to  be  considered  as  ia- 
cluded  in  the  price  of  excavation, 

13.  That  where  adjacent  to  excavations,  embankments 
shall,  in  all  cases,  be  formed  of  materials  taken  from  the 
former  ;  and  that  the  whole  will  be  reckoned  as  excava- 
tion only,  no  matter  what  the  distance,  unless  there  be  an 
excess  of  embankment;  in  which  case  that  excess  will  be 
reckoned  at  the  same  price  as  the  bid  for  excavation. 

1.4.  That  all  materials  for  embankment  taken  from  adja- 
cent side  ditches  will  be  considered  as  excavation  only. 

15.  Thai  contractors  must  make  the  necessary  allow- 
ance for  shrinkage  and  settlement  in  the  embankments;  as 
they  will,  in  no  case,  be  considered  complete,  until  at  the 
proper  height  after  consolidation. 

In  addition  to  the  above  specifications,  if  any  wooden 
bridges  occur  on  the  line,  it  should  be  specified,  that  the 
contractor  shall  provide  a  competent  and  experienced 
mechanic  to  direct  their  framing  and  building,  in  confor- 
mity with  drawings  or  directions,  to  be  famished  by  the 
Acting  Commissioner;  that  the  limber  whether  hewed  or 
sawed,  should  be  of  full  size,  and  entirely  free  from  sap, 


51 

bad  knots,  shakes,  wanes  or  other  imperfections  impairing 
its  strength  and  durability  ;  and,  finally,  that,  in  all  cases 
where  the  timber  is  delivered  before  the  contractor  is  pre- 
pared to  proceed  with  the  framing,  it  must  be  raised  from 
the  ground  and  piled  in  a  manner  most  likely  to  prevent 
springing,  warping  or  other  bad  effects  irom  the  weather. 

In  case  of  erections  of  stone,  the  best  works  on  stone- 
masonry  should  be  consulted,  to  obtain  general  specifica- 
tions. 

Where  there  is  any  considerable  excavation  and  em- 
bankment, these  should  be  made,  if  possible,  to  balance 
each  other.  This  is  easily  effected  on  a  smooth  hill-side, 
or  in  cutting  across  the  spurs  of  a  ridge,  with  small  valleys 
between,  or  in  a  road  where  alternate  hills  and  hollows 
occur.  It  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  any  given 
amount  of  yards  excavated  will  make,  when  laid  up  in 
embankment,  from  one  fifth  to  one  tenth  less;  the  percen- 
tage varying  according  to  the  nature  of  the  soil.  Thus  an 
excavation  of  a  thousand  cubic  yards  will  supply  from 
eight  hundred  to  nine  hundred  yards  only,  in  embankment. 

An  embankment  left  to  settle,  should  not  be  rounded  at 
top,  but  rather  hollow,  so  as  to  suffer  the  rain  to  sink  into 
it.  In  raising  a  heavy  embankment,  it  is  better  that  the 
earth  should  be  carted  in  layers  of  about  two  feet  thick- 
ness; but  if  it  cross  a  deep  and  narrow  ravine,  onq  can- 
not reasonally  expect  a  contractor  to  bind  himself  to  this 
rule.  An  embankment  of  any  considerable  height  becomes 
more  solid  if  carts  are  used,  than  if  the  earth  is  moved  in 
wheelbarrows. 

When  a  culvert  becomes  necessary  under  an  embank- 
ment, at  a  depth  of.  more  than  six  or  eight  feet  and  there 
is  not  a  sufficient  supply  of  running  water  to  keep  the 
same  constantly  submerged,  I  recommend  that  stone  be 


52 

adopted  as  a  material,  if  it  can  be  obtained  at  any  reason- 
able cost.  It  is  difficult  and  expensive  so  to  construct  a 
wooden  culvert,  that,  when  it  decays,  it  can  be  removed 
and  renewed  without  digging  down  to  it:  and  this  last  ex- 
pedient, if  the  embankment  be  deep,  is  costly  and  trouble- 
some. 

The  form  of  stone  culvert  adopted  on  the  Mount  Vernon 
road  will  be  understood  from  the  following  figure  and  spe- 
cification : 


1 

1 

1 

v 

y 

V 

"Yr-r                 ^f* 

7     1 

/  V 

J 

I 

1 

I 

TyrrTf 

f  1 

1 

SPECIFICATION. 

"  To  be  of  good  sound  rubble  work,  set  in  good  lime 
and  sand  mortar.  The  covering  slabs  to  be  neatly  jointed 
and  closely  set  together.  The  floor  of  the  drain  to  be 
concave  and  its  center  two  inches  below  the  bottom  line  of 
the  side  walls;  to  be  paved  with  stones  set  on  edge  length- 
wise of  the  drain,  and  to  be  not  less  than  five  inches  deep; 
set  firmly  side  by  side  and  the  interstices  filled  up  with 
stone  chips,  packed  in  with  a  small  hammer;  and  then 
finished  with  a  light  coat  of  hydraulic  lime. 


53  ,v 

"The  opening  of  the  drain  to  be  18  inches  by  20,  in 
its  greatest  depth.  The  side  walls  to  be  not  less  than  12 
inches  thick  and  eighteen  inches  high.  The  covering 
stone  to  be  not  less  than  4  inches  thick  and  28  inches 
long.  The  upper  course  of  the  side  walls  to  project  2 
inches  into  the  opening. 

"  As  the  upper  end  of  each  culvert  a  flat  slab  to  be  sunk, 
after  the  manner  of  sheet-piling,  three  and  a  half  feet 
square.  The  discharging  end  to  be  paved  beyond  the 
drain  with  a  concave  pavement  similar  to  the  bottom  of  ihe 
drain,  but  two  feet  and  a  half  wide  and  three  feet  long. 

"  The  culvert  to  be  continued  to  the  extreme  tow  of  the 
embankment  and  the  face,  at  each  end,  to  be  neatly  ham- 
mer-dressed." 

The  essential  matter,  in  the  construction  of  such  a  cul- 
vert, is  to  prevent  the  undermining,  by  the  water,  of  the 
drain-floor  and  the  side  walls.  The  precautions,  there- 
fore, of  sinking  a  protecting  slab  at  the  upper  end,  and 


continuing  a  pavement  at  the  discharging  end,  are  impor- 
tant.    I  am  not  sure,  that,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 


54 

ihe  coating  of  hydraulic  lime  is  necessary.  An  inch  or 
an  inch  and  a  half  of  fine  gravel,  hard  rammed  with  a 
pavior's  betel,  would  probably  serve  as  good  a  purpose. 

A  cheap  and  simple  wooden  culvert  maybe  constructed 
by  laying  down  plank  two  and  a  half  or  three  inches  thick 
and  four  feet  long,  as  a  floor;  then  let  each  side  wall  be 
composed  of  two  logs,  each  squared  on  two  sides,  not  less 
than  9  inches  high  and  13  inches  wide.  Cover  with  the 
same  plank  as  that  used  for  the  flooring.  The  plank  had 
better  be  of  the  same  thickness  as  that  used  for  the  road ; 
so  that  refuse  plank,  of  which  a  half  length  is  sound,  can 
be  employed.  (See  figure  on  page  53.) 

A  stone  culvert  ought  never  to  have  an  opening  of  less 
than  18  inches  square,  no  matter  how  small  the  amount  of 
drainage  it  is  intended  to  effect;  since  it  may  become  ne- 
cessary, in  case  of  its  becoming  choked  up,  to  send  in 
some  one,  to  clear  it  out. 

The  stone  culverts  on  the  Harmony  hill  cost,  by  con- 
tract, a  dollar  and  a  quarter  a  running  foot.  The  stone  (a 
sandstone)  was  furnished  in  the  quarry,  without  charge  to 
the  contractors,  and  had  to  be  hauled  about  two  miles,  over 
bad  roads  and  during  inclement  weather.  All  other  ma- 
terials, except  the  hydraulic  lime,  were  furnished  by  the 
contractors.  The  price  was  a  moderate  one. 

Heavy  embankments  ought  to  be  allowed  to  settle,  sev- 
eral months  if  possible,  before  the  superstructure  is  laid 
upon  them.  Light  embankments,  say  of  2  or  3  feet  only, 
especially  if  they  are  on  the  line  of  an  old  road,  had  better 
be  thrown  up  just  before  the  plank  is  ready;  as  any  travel 
passing  over  them  tends  to  injure  and  displace  them. 

The  road-bed  on  an  embankment  of  considerable  height 
had  better  be  22  feet  wide  instead  of  20  ;  as  the  edges  will 
wash,  more  or  less.  If  the  funds  of  the  road,  however, 


55 

run  short,  a  hi^h  and  short  embankment  may  be  made 
half  width  only,  say  12  feet,  with  the  plank  road  in  the 
center-;  in  which  case,  of  course,  wagons  cannot  pass  each 
other  upon  it,  but  must  wait,  as  at  the  end  of  a  narrow 
bridge,  till  the  passage  is  clear.  But  this  expedient  ought 
not  to  be  resorted  to,  where  eke  amount  of  travel  is  con- 
siderable, if  it  be  adopted  on  a  country  road,  and  the 
travel  increases,  it  is  an  ea?y  matter,  at  any  lime,  to  add 
TO  the  width  of  the  enakaakmem,  and  move  the  |  lank  to 
oae  side. 


CHAPTER  VII, 

CONSTRUCTION.       SUPERSTRUCTURE. 

The  execution  of  the  superstructure  (that  is  to  say,  the 
ditching  and  light  grading,  and  shaping  of  the  road  on  such 
portions  of  the  line  as  do  not  exceed  in  steepness  the  limit 
of  maximum  grade,  and  a^so  the  laying  down  of  the  plank) 
should  not  be  let  out  toy  contract,  but  ought  to  be  executed, 
under  the  personal  supervision  of  the  Acting  Commission- 
er, by  companies  of  from  10  to  15  hands,  each  company 
under  the  charge  of  a  foreman.  If  let  out  by  contract, 
the  work  may  be  slighted  so  as  greatly  to  impair  the  dura- 
bility of  the  road,  without  the  possibility  of  detecting  the 
deficiency  when  the  whole  is  completed  and  ready  to  be 
received. 

The  essential,  in  laying  down  a  plank  road,  is.  that  as 
well  when  first  made  as  after  it  setttes,  the  plank  should 
rest  solidly  and  immoveably  on  the  ground.  Any  mode 


50 

by  which  this  can  be  thoroughly  effected  will  make  a  good 
and  durable  road.  One  of  the  chief  conditions  upon 
which  this  permanent  solidity  depends  is,  that  the  road- 
bed be  completely  drained.  There  is,  therefore,  no  one 
point,  in  the  construction  of  a  plank  road,  more  important, 
than  effectual  drainage.  To  attain  this  essential  object 
ditches  of  sufficient  size  should  be  opened,  and  at  all  times 
kept  open,  throughout  its  entire  length ;  and  the  side  levels, 
in  the  construction  of  the  road,  must  be  carefully  pre- 
served. 

It  is  a  common  thing,  especially  on  high  rolling  land,  to 
omit  ditches,  along  plank  roads  ;  but  such  carelessness  is 
any  thing  but  true  economy.  In  such  situations,  the  side 
ditches  of  the  road  need  not  be  so  deep  or  wide  as  on  low, 
flat  land  ;  but  they  can  no  where  be  safely  dispensed  with. 
The  average  width  of  side  ditches  should  not,  at  top,  be 
less  than  four  feet,  nor  their  average  depth  less  than  16 
inches.  A  ditch  six  or  seven  feet  wide,  however,  may 
often  be  necessary  Jo  drain  fiat,  marshy  land;  while,  in  a 
considerable  excavation,  a  ditch  on  each  side  two  and  a 
half  feet  across,  may,  for  the  sake  of  economy,  be  made 
to  suffice.  Where  the  road  cuts  into  a  long  hillside  and  a 
single  ditch  on  the  upper  side  only  is  necessary,  there 
should  be  frequent  small  culverts  under  the  road,  to  pre- 
vent the  accumulation  of  water  in  the  ditch;  and  a  guard- 
ditch  along  the  upper  edge  of  the  side  slope,  if  the  hill 
above  be  of  any  considerable  height,  is  a  necessary  pre- 
caution. 

Care  must  always  be  taken,  when  the  road  passes  over 
a  level,  that  the  bottom  of  the  side  ditches  shall  have  a 
slope,  lengthwise,  sufficient  to  carry  off  the  water  that 
flows  into  them.  This  slope  should  never  be  less  than  1 
foot  fall  in  120.  The  same  is  true  of  the  road-bed  itself; 


57 

which,  in  its  longitudinal  grade,  should  never  approach 
nearer  to  a  level  than  1  foot  rise  or  fall  in  going  120. 
Where  the  ground  for  a  great  distance  is  perfectly  level, 
the  road  should  be  artificially  formed  into  gentle  undula- 
tions, its  slopes  alternately  rising  and  falling  at  the  above 
rate. 

The  road-bed,  between  the  ditches,  is  usually  twenty 
feet  wide.  One  side  of  the  road  is  occupied  by  the  plank, 
the  other  is  graded  into  an  ordinary  earthroad  upon  which 
to  turn  out.  Sometimes  the  plank  are  laid  close  up  to  the 
ditch,  but  this  is  a  faulty  construction;  the  side  of  the 
ditch  is  apt  to  crumble  down,  so  as  to  expose  the  lower 
surface  of  the  plank.  There  should  be  a  width  of  eigh- 
teen inches  intervening  between  the  outer  end  of  the  plank 
and  the  edge  of  the  ditch;  and,  to  facilitate  drainage,  this 
intervening  space  should  have  a  slant  of  an  inch  to  a  foot. 

The  width  of  that  portion  of  the  road  which  is  laid  with 
plank  is  usually  eight  feet;  and  this  is  found  sufficient  for 
all  practical  purposes,  even  on  roads  much  travelled. 
Over  a  single  track,  in  the  vicinity  of  Syracuse,  upwards 
of  160,000  teams  passed  in  two  years;  making  an  average 
of  about  220  teams  per  day.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
a  populous  town,  however,  a  double  track  (that  is,  two  sep- 
arate tracks  running  side  by  side  and  each  eight  feet  wide) 
is  desirable. 

On  wet,  yielding  soil,  where  a  wagon  turning  out  with 
two  or  thiee  tons  load  would  be  likely  to  mire  down,  por- 
tions of  a  second  track,  in  the  form  of  turn-outs,  (say 
forty  feet  long  and  occurring  at  intervals  of  150  or  200 
yards  apart)  will  be  found  necessary.  On  the  New  York 
roads  this  expedient  is  seldom  resorted  to;  but  their  soil  is 
usually  much  firmer  and  more  gravelly  than  that  of  our 
Western  States.  To  what  extent  wooden  turn-outs  will  be 


68 

required  in  the  latter,  time  alone  can  determine.  It  is  to 
be  remarked,  however,  that  if,  for  lack  of  such  a  provis- 
ion, it  should  become  customary,  in  wet  weather,  to  load 
teams  one-third  or  one-half  less  than  would  otherwise  be 
usual,  the  loss,  by  dispensing  with  them,  would  be  very 
great. 

On  the  other  hand  it  should  be  remembered,  that  the 
earth-road  used  to  turn  out  on,  commonly  remains  in  much 
better  order  than  an  ordinary  road.  By  the  rule  of  plank 
roads,  light  teams  always  give  way  to  heavy  ones,  and 
this  saves  it  considerably.  Again,  as  a  team  merely  turns 
out  upon  it  to  return  again  immediately  to  the  plank,  there 
are  no  continuous  wheel-ruts,  to  receive,  and  become  a 
channel  for  the  rain;  and,  besides,  it  is  unlikely  that  any 
two  wagons,  in  turning  out,  will  strike  precisely  the  same 
track. 

But,  to  ensure  its  continuance  in  good  order,  it  must 
have  a  side  slant  sufficient  for  effectual  drainage.  Some 
have  recommended  eight  or  nine  inches,  but  I  think  about 
half  an  inch  to  a  foot — say  5  or  6  inches  in  its  entire 
width  of  ten  feet  and  a  half — is  sufficient. 

The  plank  should  have  a  side  slant,  in  their  entire 
width,  of  not  less  than  an  inch  and  a  half,  on  hard,  dry 
ground,  and  not  more  than  two  inches  on  wet,  flat  ground. 
On  some  roads  a  slant  of  three  inches  has  been  adopted ; 
but  T  have  been  told,  that  in  slippery  weather,  on 
that  slant,  the  wheels  are  apt  to  slide  :  and,  in  addition,  a 
slant  as  great  as  that,  amounting  to  nearly  two  inches  in 
the  width  of  a  wagon-track,  continually  kept  up.  by  throw- 
ing the  load  unequally  on  the  wheels,  is  said  to  produce  a 
sensible  injury  to  the  axletrees. 

On  a  rapid  turn  the  road-bed  should  be  twenty-two  feet 
wide;  and  if  the  plank  are  on  the  outside  of  the  turn,  the 


59 

minimum  slant  of  an  inch  and  a  half  should  always  be 
adopted :  while,  if  they  are  on  the  inside,  the  full  slant  of 
two  inches  should  be  given.  For  such  a  turn  the  plank 
have  to  be  sawed  narrower  at  one  end  than  at  the  other; 
and  are  better,  if  12  feet  long. 

On  any  level  portion  of  a  road,  where  the  soil  inclines 
to  be  wet,  the  general  level  of  the  road-bed  should  be  not 
less  than  two  feet  above  the  surrounding  countrv. 

Two  stringers,  sleepers  or  mud  sills  are  usually  laid 
down,  parallel  to  each  oiher,  along  the  line  of  the  road, 
upon  which  to  rest  the  plank.  Sometimes  three  or  four 
stringers  have  been  employed;  and  on  a  road  very  much 
travelled  this  may  be  a  wise  precaution;  also  wherever 
any  road  passes  over  wet,  yielding  soil.  If  four  stringers 
are  used,  they  should  be  laid  two  and  two  together,  and  so 
to  break  joint.  When  two  only  are  employed  ihey  should 
be  laid  so  that  the  end  of  a  stringer  on  one  side  is  o.»po- 
site  to  the  centre  of  a  stringer  on  the  other;  and,  in  that 
case,  at  each  point  where  two  stringers  abut  against  each 


other,  there  should  be  underlaid  a  piece  of  inch  plank, 
two  feet  long,  and  us  wide  or  a  little  wider  ih;tn  the  string- 
er. Upon  the  centre  of  this  plank  the  joint  should  be 
broken.  Other  plans  are  sometimes  adopted  to  prevent 
the  sinking  of  the  stringers  at  their  points  of  junction  ;  as 
lapping  them  a  foot  or  more  past  each  other,  bevilling  their 
ends,  &c.;  but  I  think  the  plan  I  have  recommended  and 
which  is  now  adopted  on  the  best  roads,  the  cheapest  by 
which  the  object  desired  can  be  effectually  secured. 

The  distance  of  the  stringers  apart  should  be  thi  same 


as  the  usual  wagon  track  of  the  country.  Ours  is  five 
feet  from  centre  to  centre  of  the  wagon-tire;  and  the 
stringers  on  our  roads  should  therefore  be  laid  five  feet 
apart,  from  centre  to  centre. 

The  stringers  are  sunk  in  the  road-bed  and  ihe  earth 
filled  up  between  them  and  outside  of  them,  so  that  the 
plank,  when  the  road  settles,  shall  rest  equally  upon  the 
earth  and  upon  the  stringers. 

To  effect  this  thoroughly,  so  that,  after  the  road  has 
been  made  say  six  months,  it  shall  still  remain  solid;  or, 
in  other  words,  that  the  earth,  between  and  without  the 
stringers,  shall  not  have  settled  away  Irom  them  and  left 
the  plank  resting  on  tha  stringers  alone,  is,  in  practice,  not 
very  easily  done:  and  yet  upon  this,  as  much  as  upon  any 
other  one  circumstance,  depend  the  excellence  and  dura- 
bility of  a  plank  road.  If  the  earth  sink  away,  leaving  a 
hollow  on  either  side  of  the  stringers,  the  rain  will  pene- 
trate, making  a  substratum  of  mud;  the  plank,  yielding 
under  heavy  loads,  will  churn,  as  the  phrase  is,  forcing  the 
mud  up  between  the  joints;  the  road  becomes  unstable  and 
permanently  hollow,  and  the  plank  wears  out  very  rapidly. 

I  learned  from  Mr  Alvord,  of  Salina,  that,  on  a  flat  and 
somewhat  wet  portion  of  the  Syracuse  road,  where  the 
drainage  hau  been  insufficient  and  the  road  imperfectly 
constructed,  the  plank,  resting  for  several  rods  on  the 
stringers  alone,  had  worn  three  times  as  much  as  on  the 
adjacent,  higher,  and  better  drained  and  more  solid  sec- 
tions. It  should  be  remembered,  then,  that  errors  of  con- 
struction, which  cannot  even  be  detected  by  an  inspection 
of  the  finished  road,  may  be  of  so  fatal  a  character  as 
wholly  to  cut  ofF  all  dividends,  and  destroy  the  value  of 
the  stock  in  a  road,  which,  under  more  prudent  manage- 
ment, would  have  proved  a  profitable  investment. 


61 

To  avoid  this  defect  and  ensure  solidity  of  substructure, 
we  have  adopted,  on  the  Mount  Vernon  road,  an  expedient 
which  I  do  not  know  to  have  been  elsewhere  considered  ne- 
cessary on  plank  roads.  It  is  to  employ  a  wooden  roller, 
composed  of  the  butt  of  a  large  burr  oak;  its  dimensions  up- 
wards of  three  feet  and  a  half  in  diameter  and  eight  feet  long; 
weighing  about  two  tons  and  a  half;  with  iron  gudgeons 
and  having  a  frame  on  either  side  to  hitch  to ;  so  arranged 
that  when  it  is  desired  to  reverse  the  direction  in  which  it 
is  drawn,  this  can  be  done,  without  turning  the  roller,  in  a 
few  seconds,  by  merely  unhitching  the  oxen  or  horses  and 
attaching  them  to  the  other  side  ;  somewhat  after  the  man- 
ner of  hitching  and  unhitching  teams  to  railroad  cars. 

After  the  earth  is  levelled  off  to  the  proper  grade,  pre- 
paratory to  laying  the  stringers,  this  roller  is  passed  over 
it  once,  back  and  forth.  The  stringers  are  then  laid,  in 
properly  prepared  furrows,  so  that  their  upper  surface  is 
somewhat  below  the  level  of  the  earth  on  either  side,  and 
the  roller  is  passed  over  them,  back  and  forth,  a  second 
time;  so  as  to  settle  every  thing  down,  in  a  permanently 
solid  mass,  ready  to  receive  the  plank. 

The  other  tools  required  in  laying  down  the  superstruc- 
ture, are,  besides  shovels,  a  stout  road-plough  of  large  size  ; 
a  strong  iron  rake,  an  iron  crow-bar  weighing  15  or  16 
Ibs.,  5  feet  long,  sharpened,  in  wedge  form,  at  one  end,  so 
that  it  can  be  sunk  in  the  ground  and  used  as  a  lever  to 
bring  each  plank,  as  it  is  laid  down,  close  up  to  the  pre- 
ceding one,  and  with  a  broad,  flat  head  at  the  other,  so  that 
it  can  be  reversed  and  employed,  as  a  pavior's  betel,  to 
ram  the  plank  down  home.  For  this  purpose,  however, 
some  recommend,  in  preference,  a  maul  of  the  hardest  and 
heaviest  wood  that  can  be  got,  2  feet  8  inches  high;  6 
inches  diameter  at  bottom,  where  it  should  be  a  little 


62  , 

rounding,  and  four  inches  and  a  half  at  top,  with  one  up- 
right, and  2  cross,  handles.  The  upright  handle  is  used 
when  the  maul  is  employed  to  drive  the  plank  close  up  to 
the  last  laid,  and  the  horizontal  handles  in  pounding  the 
plank  down.  On  old,  hard  roads  I  have  seen  a  heavy  iron 
hammer  employed,  in  preference  to  either  of  the  above; 
but  upon  the  whole,  the  crow-bar  seems  to  me  the  most 
convenient,  and  has  been  adopted  on  our  road. 

Besides  these  tools  a  scraper  is  indispensable.  The  pat- 
tern of  scraper  used  on  the  New  York  roads,  and  after 
long  experience,  highly  approved  in  that  State,  differs 
from  that  commonly  in  use  among  us,  and  also  from  any 
which  I  have  seen  figured  in  works  on  road-making  (as  in 
Gillespie,  at  page  155.)  It  is,  however,  cheap  and  simple. 
The  bottom  board  is  usually  of  ash,  from  an  inch  to 
an  inch  and  a  half  thick;  4  feet  4  inches  by  1  foot,  sloped 
at  bottom,  and  shod  with  steel.  At  each  end  it  has  a  stout 
iron  strap,  running  over  it  and  down  behind  and  before. 
Above  this  is  the  top  board,  half  to  three  quarters  of  an 
inch  thick;  4  feet  by  9  inches,  rounded  at  the  upper  cor- 
ners. It  has  two  back  handles,  passing  behind  both  boards, 
strongly  fastened  to  the  lower  board  by  straps  of  iron, 
bolts  and  nuts;  and  strongly  nailed  to  the  top-board.  It 
has  also  two  side  handles,  projecting  six  inches;  they 
are  part  of  the  bottom  board,  the  portion  below  being  cut 
out.  The  lower  edge,  of  steel,  may  be  secuied  by  bolts 
and  nuts.  Part  of  an  old  saw-mill  saw  will  answer. 

This  scraper  requires  two  stout  horses,  attached  to  it  by 
a  chain  passing  to  two  stout  staples;  and  a  man  at  each  side. 
Each  man  lays  hold,  with  one  hand,  of  one  of  the  back 
handles,  and  with  the  other  of  one  of  the  side  handles  ; 
and  thus  it  can  be  managed  with  great  facility. 

In  using  this  scraper  to  raise  and  convey  earth  from  the 


63 

ditch  to  the  road,  the  horses  are  not  turned  but  backed-, 
the  men  lifting  up  the  scraper  and  carrying  it  back,  as 
soon  as  its  load  is  discharged.  It  operates,  after  a  little 
practice,  very  rapidly. 

In  organizing  a  party  to  lay  down  the  superstructure, 
a  stout  ox-cart,  three  or  four  good  yoke  of  oxen  and  a 
pair  of  horses  are  requisite. 

The  exact  number  of  hands  required  depends  upon  the 
nature  of  the  soil  and  the  character  of  the  old  road,  if 
the  plank  road  is  to  follow  any  old  line;  but  may,  under 
favorable  circumstances,  be  set  down  as  follows  : 
To  manage  the  plough,  2  hands. 

"         "          "    scraper,     -  -  -     2       " 

With  shovels,  to  level  off  after  scraper,     2       " 
Laying  stringers,  •  •  •  2       " 

Handling  plank,       -  -  -  -     2       " 

To  manage  the  roller,  &c.,    -  •  1       " 

Foreman,  who  lays  the  plank,    -  -     1       " 

Total,  -  -         12  hands. 

If  the  ploughing  be  very  heavy,  another  hand  may  be 
required  at  the  plough;  and  so  also  of  the  scraper.  If 
any  old  stumps  have  to  be  removed,  or  other  grubbing 
done,  that  will  be  extra ;  and  if  there  be  much  of  it,  it 
will  be  found  profitable  to  construct  a  stump-extractor. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  road  be  already  well  ditched  and 
tolerably  graded,  a  smaller  number  of  hands  than  twelve 
will  suffice. 

The  foreman  ought  to  be  a  man  of  intelligence,  good 
judgment  and  mechanical  ability.  Upon  his  faithfulness, 
sound  judgment  and  strict  attention  to  every  minute  detail, 
the  character  of  the  road,  as  to  construction,  will  in  a 
great  measure,  depend.  The  work  cannot  be  slighted,  if 


64 

he  does  his  duty.  If  he  fails  to  do  so,  it  may  seriously 
effect  the  after  profits  of  the  road.  He  ought  to  be  select- 
ed, then,  with  great  care,  and  well  paid.  On  the  Mount 
Vernon  road,  he  receives  two  dollars  and  a  quarter  a  day. 
To  him  is  confided  the  charge  of  the  hands;  he  keeps  an 
account  of  time,  &c.,  with  each,  paying  them  off  every 
Saturday  night;  and  he  also  keeps  an  account  of  the  gen- 
eral expenses  of  the  party. 

The  careful  preservation  of  the  levels — both  the  side 
and  longitudinal  slopes  of  the  road — is  an  important  part 
of  -his  duty. 

A  party  of  good  hands,  under  an  experienced  foreman, 
will  ditch,  grade  and  lay  down,  in  the  best  manner,  on  the 
average,  from  30  to  40  rods  a  day,  sometimes  more:  say, 
allowing  for  wet  days,  not  less  than  half  a  mile  a  week; 
at  a  weekly  expense,  probably,  of  about  a  hundred  dollars. 
This  portion  of  the  work,  then,  ought,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  to  cost,  (without  grubbing)  about  $200  per 
mile :  but  the  labor  and  consequent  cost  will  vary,  very 
considerably,  on  different  lines  of  road. 

The  general  mode  of  proceeding  (frequently  varied, 
however,  by  circumstances)  is  this.  Suppose  the  plank  is 
to  be  laid  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the  road,  the  plough 
goes  first,  ploughing  up  along  the  line  of  the  right  hand 
ditch,  and  returning  on  the  left.  The  scraper  follows, 
throwing  up  from  the  right  hand  ditch,  and  dropping  the 
earth  regularly,  as  far,  however,  as  the  centre  of  the  road 
only.  Two  men  follow  the  scraper,  and  level  off  careful- 
ly with  shovels.  After  the  roller  has  passed,  two  other 
hands  form  the  stringer-furrows,  and  lay  the  stringers. 
Two  more  bring  the  plank  from  small  piles  on  the  road 
side;  and  the  foreman,  standing  on  the  plank  last  laid, 
sinks  his  crow-bar  into  the  earth,  just  below  the  outer  edge 


65 

of  a  new  plank,  as  soon  as  the  men  lay  it  down,  and  with 
a  jerk  forces  it  back  to  its  place,  occasionally  adjusting  it 
edgeways  by  dropping  the  instrument  at  one  or  the  other 
end:  then  reversing  the  crow-bar,  he  pounds,  with  its  flat- 
tened head,  along  the  line  of  the  plank,  ti'.l  it  settles  down 
to  the  level  of  the  preceding  one. 

In  the  meantime,  the  scraper,  having  gained  considera- 
bly on  the  rest  of  the  work,  is  brought  back;  the  left  hand 
ditch  is  thrown  up,  to  form  the  earth-road  intended  to  turn 
out  upon.  In  so  doing,  the  horses  attached  to  the  scraper 
are  driven  on  to  the  recently  laid  plank,  and  the  earth  lev- 
elled to  the  upper  edge  of  the  plank,  and  usually  about  two 
or  three  inches  above  it,  to  allow  for  settling.  When  the 
roller  has  been  past  over  this  portion  of  the  road,  the 
whole  is  complete  and  ready  for  use. 

The  foreman  can  lay  somewhat  more  rapidly  than  the 
ground  is  thus  prepared  for  him;  but  he  is  frequently 
called  off  to  determine  the  levels,  and  inspect  and  direct 
other  portions  of  the  work. 

To  avoid  delay  and  useless  labor  in  carrying  the  plank, 
it  is  necessary  that  they  should  be  laid  down  at  regular  in- 
tervals, on  both  sides  of  the  road,  and  that  there  should 
be  exactly  the  same  amount  in  each  pile.  The  stipula- 
tion in  our  contracts  is,  "that  the  plank  be  laid  down  in 
lots  64  feet  apart,  each  lot  containing  about  658  feet  of  the 
eight  feet  plank  and  four  lengihs  of  the  sixteen  feet  plank 
(stringers),  each  lot  on  one  side  of  the  road  to  be  opposite 
the  centre  between  two  lots  on  the  opposite  side." 
This  amount  of  658  feet  (board  measure)  is  for  two 
and  a  half  inch  pfank;  if  three  inch  plank  be  used, 
the  amount  in  each  lot  would  be  about  777  feet.  The 
easiest  practical  method,  however,  of  getting  at  the  quan- 
5 


66 

tity,  is  to  let  the  aggregate  width  of  eight  feet  plank  in 
each  lot  be  32  leet. 

This  stipulation  should  be  strictly  enforced;  as,  if  the 
plank  are  dropped  at  irregular  distances  and  the  quantities 
are  not  exact,  the  hands  who  handle  the  plank  may  have 
to  carry  them  a  considerable  distance;  and  thus  the  whole 
party  mav  be  seriously  delayed.  The  importance  of 
avoiding  this  and  all  other  sources  of  delay  to  such  a  party 
will  appear  if  we  call  to  mind,  that  each  working  hour  by 
that  number  of  hands,  including  expenses,  costs  nearly 
two  dollars. 

As  to  the  thickness  of  the  plank,  if  the  line  on  which  a 
plank  road  is  to  be  constructed,  be,  at  the  tkne  it  is  pro- 
jected, pretty  well  travelled,  say  by  an  average  of  15  to 
20  teams  each  way  each  day  throughout  the  year,  I  re- 
commend three  inches.  If  the  travel  be  less,  averaging  8 
or  10  teams  each  way  only,  two  and  a  half  inches  may 
suffice.  No  road  should  be  laid  with  plank  thinner  than 
ahat,  though  two  inch  plank  has  been  sometimes  used. 
And  where  the  travel  is  great,  say  50  to  100  teams  each 
way  a  day,  I  think  four  inch  plank  would  be  found  the 
most  profitable.  If  of  hard  wood,  the  width  ought  not  to 
exceed  ten  inches.  If  of  soft  wood  it  might  run  up  to  a 
foot.  It  should  not  be  less  than  five  inches. 

I  think  it  best  to  make  the  stringers  the  same  thickness 
as  the  plank  and  twice  the  length,  that  is,  sixteen  feet. 
Whether  single  or  double,  they  should  be  5  or  6  inches 
wide.  The  stringers  may  thus,  on  occasion,  be  used  as 
plank,  and  vice  versa. 

The  specification  in  regard  to  plank  in  our  contracts,  is, 
that  it  shall  be  •'  either  of  white  oak  or  post  oak  or  burr 
oak  or  chinkapin  oak,  or  black  walnut  or  red  elm  or  mul- 
berry; and  to  be  from  good  and  sound  timber,  free  from 
sap,  bad  knots,  shakes,  wanes  and  other  imperfections  irn- 


67 

pairing  its  strength  and  durability;  to  be  full  on  the  edges 
and  of  the  full  thickness  specified."  On  the  principal 
hills,  however,  we  h-ave  specified,  that  ii  shall  be  of  the 
best  yellow  poplar;  as  we  did  not  feel  assured  but  that 
horses,  with  heavy  loads,  might,  in  wet  weather,  slip  on 
the  hard  wood,  on  these  ascents. 

In  New  York  hemlock  is  the  timber  chiefly  employed. 
it  wears  much  more  rapidly  than  white  oak;  and  when 
considerably  used,  its  surface  becomes  rough,  on  account 
of  the  frequent  hard  knots,  unworn  and  projecting  from  its 
surface.  Pine  is  chiefly  employed  in  Canada,  and  is  more 
durable  than  hemlock. 

Hemlock  commonly  costs,  in  New  York,  86  a  thousand 
(board  measure.)  Our  plank  cost  us,  delivered,  89  a  thou- 
sand ;  but  if  there  had  been  a  sufficiency  of  good  steam  or 
water  mills  along  the  line  of  our  road  it  could,  doubt- 
less, have  been  had  for  87  to  88.  Putting  it  at  88  a  thou- 
sand, delivered,  in  regular  proportions,  along  the  line  of 
road,  the  whole  of  the  plank,  including  stringers,  would 
cost,  per  mile,  at  the  different  thicknesses,  as  follows : 

TWO    AND-A-HALF     INCH:    WITH    SINGLE    STRINGERS,     FIVB 
INCHES    WIDE. 

Surface  plank,  8  x  2£  x  5280—105,600  at  $8— $844  80 
Stringers,  10-12  x  2i  x  5280—  11,000  at  88 —  88  00 
Inch  plank,  to  underlay  stringers,  660  at  88 —  5  28 


Total  cost  of  plank,  per  mile,  1 1 7,260  feet  8938  08 
THREE  INCH:  WITH  SINGLE  STRINGERS,  six  INCHES  WIDE. 
Surface  plank,  8  x  3  x  5280—126,720  at  88-81013  75 
Stringers,  1  x  3  x  5280—  15,840  at  88 —  126  72 

Inch  plank,  to  underlay  stringers,      660  at  88 —       5  28 

Total  cost  of  plank,  per  mile.  143,220  feet     $1145  76 


TOUR  INCH:  WITH  DOUBLE  STRINGERS,  six  INCHES  WIDE. 
Surface  plank,  8  x  4  x  5280—168,960  at  88— §1351  68 
Stringers,  2  x  4  x  5280—  42,240  at  $8—  337  92 


Total  cost  of  plank  per  mile,  2 11. 200  feet  §1689  6O 
On  the  Mount  Vernon  road,  of  fifteen  miles,  as  the  plank 
is  delivered  at  the  rate  of  about  two  miles  a  month,  a  sin- 
gle party  suffices  to  lay  down  the  superstructure.  To 
afford  greater  facility  in  moving  from  place  to  place,  where- 
ever  the  plank  are  ready  for  them,  they  are  provided  with 
a  couple  of  tents,  and  are  supplied  with  board.  This  ar- 
rangement, rendering  the  party  independent  of  board  and 
lodging  in  the  neighborhood,  facilitates  the  preservation  of 
good  order  among  them,  and  enables  them  to  be  readily 
brought  together  at  the  regular  hours  of  work. 

From  15  to  17  miles  of  road  is  as  much  as  a  single 
party,  say  of  12  to  14  hands,  can  be  expected  to  lay  down, 
in  the  course  of  a  season,  beginning  as  early  in  the  spring 
as  the  work  can  be  profitably  undertaken  and  ending  at  the 
setting  in  of  winter. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

TOLLS   AND    TOLL   GATES. 


Toll  gates  are  commonly  placed  an  average  of  six  miles 
apart;  and  one  is  usually  erected  from  one  to  two  mile.* 
from  any  considerable  town.  Their  exact  location  is  often 
governed  by  the  point  at  which  a  cross  road,  of  any  im- 
portance, strikes  the  main  line. 


The  usual  pay  of  a  toll-gate  keeper  is  ten  dollars  a 
month,  besides  a  free  house  and  garden  spot ;  and,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  the  man  follows  some  trade,  while 
his  wife  or  child  attends  the  gate.  But  where  the  amount 
of  travel  is  verv  great,  extending  through  a  portion  of  the 
night  and  demanding  the  gate-keeper's  constant  attention, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  toll-gate  already  mentioned  two  miles 
from  Syracuse,  twenty  dollars  a  month,  besides  house  and 
garden,  is  given. 

The  gate-keeper  is  required  to  keep  a  small  account 
book,  in  which  he  sets  down  the  gross  receipts  of  each 
day.  This  he  hands  monthly  to  the  Secretary,  who  copies 
and  returns  it  to  him.  He  is  not  usually  required  to  make 
oath  to  his  accounts,  but  gives  security,  usually  in  the  sum 
of  five  hundred  dollars.  He  settles,  on  some  roads  daily, 
on  some  weekly,  on  some  monthly,  with  the  Treasurer. 

In  Canada,  instead  of  paying  the  gate-keeper  a  fixed 
salary,  the  usual  custom  is,  to  farm  out  each  gate  to  the 
highest  bidder.  This  plan  is  not,  1  think,  suited  to  the 
present  condition  of  our  Western  country,  in  which  the 
amount  of  travel  is  exceedingly  uncertain,  and  often  in- 
creases, in  a  brief  period,  in  an  unexpected  proportion. 

The  toll-gate-keeper  is  required  to  open  his  gate  to  the 
traveller,  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  Sunday  in- 
cluded. 

The  limit  of  toll  and  the  legal  exemptions  therefrom  are 
fixed  in  each  State,  by  the  General  Plank  Road  Law; 
sometimes  by  special  Act  of  Incorporation.  The  only  ex- 
emptions by  the  law  of  our  State,  are  in  favor  of  "  per- 
sons going  to  and  from  lunerals,  and  soldiers  of  the  United 
States  or  of  this  State,  while  in  actual  service."  A  road 
company  may,  of  course,  add  other  exemptions;  but  this 
is  not  customary  except  in  favor  of  its  Board  of  Directors, 


each  of  whom,  during  his  term  of  service,  is  usually  al- 
lowed to  pass,  either  on  horseback,  or  with  his  family  or 
others  in  his  own  carriage,  toll-free.  This  frank,  however, 
is  personal  only,  and  does  not  extend  10  wagons  or  goods 
belonging  to  a  Director. 

The  limit  of  toll  diiTers  in  different  States;  and  may 
reasonably  be  put  lower  in  an  old  settled  country,  than  in 
a  new  and  thinly  populated  one.  By  the  General  Plank 
Road  Laws  of  New  York,  Kentucky,  Indiana  and  Illinois* 
it  is  fixed  as  follows : 

UNDER    THE    LAW    OF    NEW    YORK. 

For  every  horse  and  rider,  not  more  than  £  ct.  per  mile. 
"       "       one-horse  vehicle  do          f  " 

"       "       two-horse  vehicle  do        li  " 

"       "       three-horse  vehicle          do         2  " 

"       "       four-horse  vehicle  do         2i  " 

"       "       score  of  cattle,  hogs  or  sheep     1  " 

UNDER    THE    LAW    OF    KENTUCKY. 

For  every  horse  and  rider,  not  more  than    1  ct.  per  mile. 

"  "  one-horse  vehicle  do  2  " 

*'  "  two-horse  vehicle  do  3  " 

"  "  three-horse  vehicle  do  4  " 

"  "  four-horse  vehicle  do  5  " 

li  "  score  of  cattle  do  10  " 

'•  "          "      "  sheep  or  hogs  do  1  "• 

UNDER    THE    LAW    OF    INDIANA. 

For  every  horse  and  rider,  not  more  than  1  ct.  per  mile. 

"  "  one-horse  vehicle              do  1£  " 

"  "  two-horse  vehicle              do  2  " 

"  "  three-horse  vehicle            do  2£  " 

"  "  four-horse  vehicle              do  3  " 

"  "  score  of  cattle,  mules  or  asses  5  " 

"  "          "      "  sheep  or  hogs      do  2  "• 


71 


UNDER   THE   LAW   OF    ILLINOIS. 

For  every  horse  and  rider,  not  more  than  1  ct.  per  mile- 
"       "       one-horse  vehicle  do         2  " 

"       "       two-horse  vehicle  do         3  " 

"       "       three-horse  vehicle  do         34  " 

"       "       four-horse  vehicle  do         4  " 

"       "       score  of  cattle,  sheep  or  hogs      2  " 

The  question  has  ofien  arisen,  whether,  on  a  tolled  road. 
he  distance  between  the  gates,  or  the  number  of  miles 
actually  travelled,  or  intended  to  be  travelled,  shall  be  the 
measure  of  the  toll  collected.  The  legal  decisions  have 
been  in  favor  of  the  former  construction.  In  the  case  of 
Stewart  v.  Rich.  1  Caines,  182,  the  opinion  given  by 
Judge  Kent  was  as  follows :  "The  idea  that  the  Company 
must  vary  the  toll  at  every  ten-mile  gate  on  the  suggestion 
that  a  person  has  used  the  road  for  a  less  distance  than  ten 
miles  is  inadmissible,  because  impracticable.  The  toll- 
gatherer  has  no  means  of  knowing  whether  the  traveller 
has  rode  ten  miles,  or  a  less  distance,  previous  to  his  arri- 
val at  the  gate.  If  this  suggestion  was  allowed  to  be  a 
ground  of  reduction  of  toll,  it  would  open  a  door  to  the 
greatest  imposition  and  fraud  upon  the  Company." 

So,  also,  in  the  case  of  the  People  v.  Kingston  and 
Middietown  Turnpike  Company,  23  Wendell,  193,  where 
the  words  of  the  Act  incorporating  the  Company,  were, 
"  the  following  rates  of  toll  for  every  ten  miles,  and  in  the 
same  proportion  for  a  shorter  distance,"  the  Court  (Nelson 
C.  J.)  decided  :  "  This  clause  refers  to  the  distance  between 
Ike  gates;  if  that  be  five  miles,  the  corporation  may  de- 
mand half  toll;  if  it  be  two  and  a  half  miles,  they  may 
demand  a  quarter  toll,  and  so  in  proportion."  In  the  same 
case  Judge  Cowan  gave  an  opinion  similar  to  Judge  Kent's: 
"  The  replications  leave  it  to  be  taken  as  admitted,  that 


this  proportion  was  fixed  according  to  the  distance  of  the 
gates,  and  merely  find  fault  that  it  was  not  limited  to  the 
distance  of  actual  travel,  as  five,  three  or  one  mile,  or  half 
a  mile.  Such  a  construction  would  leave  every  traveller 
to  estimate  his  own  toll,  and  make  it  utterly  impracticable 
for  the  toll-gatherer  to  perform  his  duty.  It  would  lay 
him  open  to  continual  imposition." — p.  220. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  however,  in  this  connection, 
that  the  Plank  Koad  Law  of  this  Slate  contains  a  provis- 
ion which  I  have  not  noticed  elsewhere.  It  is,  that  "  if 
any  person  or  persons  using  any  part  of  such  road  shall, 
with  intent  to  defraud  said  Company,  pass  through  any 
private  gate  ^r  bars,  or  along  any  other  gruund  near  said 
road,  to  avoid  anv  toll-gate,  or  shall  make  any  untrue 
statement  as  to  the  distance  he  or  they  may  have  travelled 
or  intend  to  travel  on  the  road,  or  shall  practice  any  frau- 
dulent means,"  &c.,  they  shall  ••  for  every  offence  forfeit 
and  pay  to  such  Company  the  sum  of  three  dollars,"  &c. 
No  legal  decision  has  yet,  I  believe,  been  had,  on  this  point, 
under  our  law  ;  and,  if  any  case  were  contested,  the  plea 
would  doubtless  be  set  up,  that,  by  the  enactment  of  the 
above  penalty,  it  is  fairly  to  be  inferred,  that  the  law 
contemplated  the  trusting  to  the  averment  of  the  traveller 
as  to  the  number  of  miles  for  which  he  was  liable  for  toll, 
whether  already  travelled  or  still  to  be  travelled. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  such  a  principle  is  to  be  admitted 
at  all,  and  if  the  number  of  miles  of  road  actually  used  by 
the  person  presenting  himself,  is  to  be,  in  each  instance, 
the  measure  of  the  toll,  it  would  be  difficult  to  say,  why 
the  gate-keeper  has  not  the  right  to  enquire,  whether,  in 
the  interval  between  the  last  payment  of  toll  and  the  pre- 
sent, the  individual  in  question  has  not,  on  different  days, 
used  portions  of  the  road  between  gates  without  paying  for 


73 

the  same;  and  if  he  has,  why  the  gate-keeper  should  not 
require,  under  a  penalty  of  three  dollars,  a  siatement  of 
the  various  distances  thus  travelled,  though  at  intervals  of 
days  or  weeks,  and  adding  them  togeiher,  demand  pay- 
ment of  toll  upon  the  whole.  Again,  suppose  that  a  per- 
son, in  passing  a  gate  declares  his  intention  of  going  two 
miles  further  only,  thinking  there  to  meet  a  neighbor  with 
whom  he  has  business,  and  paying  toll  for  two  miles  only; 
but  not  finding  his  neighbor  there,  rides  on  two  miles  furth- 
er in  search  of  him  ;  is  to  be  fined  three  dollars  for  false 
representation?  or,  if  not,  is  he,  the  next  time  he  passes 
the  gate,  to  correct  his  statement,  and  pay  for  the  two  addi- 
tional miles? 

It  is  impossible,  under  any  system  of  tolls,  that,  in  every 
individual  instance,  the  traveller  should  pay  for  the  precise 
number  of  miles  he  has  used.  The  advantage  will  some- 
times be  with  him,  sometimes  with  the  Company.  And 
the  principle  above  referred  to  seems  to  me  so  impractica- 
ble of  application,  under  the  varying  chances  of  travel, 
that  I  believe  the  decision  under  our  law  will  be,  as  else- 
where it  has  been,  against  it. 

In  the  case  of  persons  living  near  a  gate-house,  a  sys- 
tem of  commutation,  at  fair  rates,  will  remedy  much  of 
the  apparent  injustice  of  charging  full  toll  for  a  short  dis- 
tance. 

The  frontispiece  to  this  volume  gives  the  plan  of  an 
economical  and  convenient  gate-house,  copied,  with  some 
modifications,  from  the  model  adopted  on  the  Cazenovia 
road,  and  for  a  plan  of  which  I  am  indebted  to  my  friend, 
General  Hough,  of  Cazenovia.  Its  cost,  including  a  two 
acre  lot  of  ground  for  garden  and  orchard,  may  be  set 
down  at  8350  to  $400 — say  §75  per  mile.  It  will  be  per- 
ceived, that  it  affords  shelter  to  the  traveller,  while  stop- 
ping to  pay  toll. 


74 

In  the  plan,  A  is  the  living  room,  15  by  17  in  the  clear, 
besides  a  recess  for  a  single  bed.  c.  B  is  a  small  bed- 
room, with  bed,  b;  and  is  74  by  10  besides  the  recess 
where  ihe  door  opens.  C  is  a  pantry,  7  feet  by  7|,  with 
shelving,  d.  d.  E  is  a  summer  kitchen  and  wood  shed 
10  by  18£.  G  is  the  toll-bar,  under  cover,  the  roof 
being  continued  to  the  frame  II  K.  D  is  a  portico,  open 
in  front  to  the  road,  with  step,  e,  e,  18  inches  wide;  n  is 
the  cellar  landing  and  m  the  landing  from  the  attic. 

This  toll-gate  house,  18  by  30,  or  including  the  cover- 
ing which  extends  over  the  plank  road,  18  by  42,  is  a 
story  and  a  half  high,  the  side  walls  in  the  attic  story  hav- 
ing 4  feet  perpendicular  height.  It  has  a  stove  chimney 
for  the  cooking  stove,  a,  commencing  on  the  second  floor. 
The  attic  story  may  be  merely  closed  in.  There  is  a  cel- 
lar, 6  feet  deep  and  12  feet  square;  which,  in  many  soils, 
can  be  finished  cheaply  and  substantially  enough,  by  dig- 
ging the  sides  with  a  slant  and  plastering  with  hydraulic 
lime,  instead  of  brick  walls. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  when  the  toll-bar  is  closed  at  x, 
foot  passengers,  by  stepping  into  the  portico,  can  pass 
around  the  post,  x;  and  that  the  arrangement  of  the  house 
is  especially  adapted,  so  that  a  woman  or  children  can  at- 
tend to  the  domestic  work,  and  still  tend  the  gate. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CAPABILITIES    OF    PLANK    ROADS. 

Horse  power  is  a  matter  of  very  uncertain  calculation, 


75 

notwithstanding  the  numerous  experiments  that  have  been 
instituted  to  determine  it.  It  must,  to  a  certain  extent, 
ever  remain  arbitrary.  The  half-starved  woods-colt,  put 
to  work  before  he  is  three  years  old,  and  the  portly  dray- 
horse  of  the  London  streets,  belong,  indeed,  to  the  same 
species,  but  the  limit  of  power  in  the  one  is  so  far  beyond 
that  of  the  other,  that  an  accurate  average  between  ex- 
tremes so  wide,  is  difficult  to  be  found. 

The  usual  conventional  estimate  of  the  power  of  one 
horse  per  day,  is,  150  Ibs.  moved  at  the  rate  of  two  miles 
and  a  half  an  hour  for  8  hours  ;  that  is,  150  Ibs.  moved  20 
miles  a  day.  This  is  the  equivalent  of  Watt's  horse  pow- 
er; which  he  put  at  33,000  Ibs.  raised  one  fool  in  one 
minute.  Tred^old  gives  125  Ibs.  instead  of  150;  Smeaton 
gives  107;  Hackette,  128;  Gaiffier,  for  a  strong  horse, 
143  Ibs.,  22  miles  a  day  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  and  three 
quarters  an  hour;  and  for  an  ordinary  horse  121  Ibs.  for 
25  miles  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  and  a  half  an  hour. 
Amontons  calculates,  that  two  horses  attached  to  a  plough, 
on  moderate  ground,  exert  each  a  force  of  150  Ibs.;  and 
Mr.  Geddes  of  Syracuse,  informed  me,  that  the  result  of 
various  experiments  made  on  different  two-horse  ploughs 
of  approved  construction,  at  an  agricultural  fair  in  that 
neighborhood,  showed  a  traction,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, varying  from  300  to  500  Ibs.  Nor  is  the  direc- 
tion of  force  to  draw  a  plough  the  most  favorable  for  a 
horse ;  the  line  of  direction  should  be  level  with  his 
breast.  Desaguliers  says  a  horse  can  draw  240  Ibs.  for 
six  hours  a  day.  And  it  is  said,  that  a  horse  of  extraordi- 
nary power  has,  for  a  momentary  exertion,  drawn  as  much 
as  800  Ibs. 

The  power  of  draught  decreases  sensibly  as  the  velo- 
city increases.  Most  writers  set  down  the  power  of  a 
horse  going  five  miles  an  hour  at  cbout  half  the  power  of 


76 

the  same  horse  going  2  miles  only;  and  estimate,  that  the 
power  is  reduced  to  one  quarter,  if  the  velocity  be  increas- 
ed to  8  miles  an  hour. 

Again,  on  steep  grades,  horse  power  rapidly  diminishes. 
If  continued  exertion  for  8  or  10  hours  a  day  be  demanded 
of  a  horse,  the  usual  estimate  is,  that  up  an  ascent  of  1  in 
7  he  can  carry  his  own  weight  only. 

I  incline  to  put  the  power  of  a  wagon  horse,  of  ordinary 
quality,  such  as  we  use  here  in  the  West,  at  100  Ibs., 
moved  at  a  common  walk,  20  miles  a  day.  His  regular, 
continued  exertion  on  a  level  should  not,  I  think,  exceed 
three-fourths  of  that  amount;  and,  on  the  steepest  hill,  it 
should  not  more  than  double  it.  In  other  words,  the  entire 
traction  of  a  one-horse  load,  wagon  included,  should  not, 
on  a  level,  exceed  75  Ibs.;  nor,  on  a  hill  should  it  go  be- 
yond 200  Ibs.  Some  horses,  of  course,  can  do  more  than 
this,  with  gi^at  facility.  List  winter,  on  the  Boonville 
(.N.  Y.)  plank  road,  two  horses  drew  over  three  miles  a 
wagon  loaded  with  12,500  Ibs.  of  stone.  The  road  was 
not  level,  though  its  grades  were  moderate.  The  horses, 
however,  were  picked  animals,  and  it  was  a  trial  of  what 
they  could  do.  They  performed  the  task  readily  and 
without  injury. 

Again,  from  Chittenango  to  Cazenovia,  with  a  total  as- 
cent of  750  feet  in  9  miles,  and  several  grades  of  a  foot  to 
a  rod,  two  horses  not  unfrequcntly  haul  6,000  Ibs.  From 
4,500  to  5,000  is,  however,  a  more  ordinary  load. 

These  are  all  above  the  average  I  have  set,  but  in  other 
cases,  horses  of  inferior  breed  and  in  bad  order  will  not 
come  up  to  it.  I  put  it  down,  then,  as  a  fair  average. 

If  this  standard  be  conceded  (and  it  is  considerably  be- 
low that  adopted  by  most  writers)  its  application  will 
readily  show  us  the  capabilities  of  plank  roads. 

The  traction,  at  a  walk,  on  a  well  made  plank  road,  has 


77 

been  set  down  (in  chapter  5)  on  a  level,  at  40  Ibs.  to  the 
ton;  and  on  an  ascending  grade  of  1  in  30,  the  amount  to 
be  added  is  66|  Ibs.  to  the  ton. 

Let  us  suppose,  now,  that  on  such  a  road,  on  which  the 
maximum  limit  of  grade  is  1  in  30,  a  strong  wagon,  such 
as  is  now  usually  drawn  by  four  horses  and  may  weigh 
1500  Ibs.,  is  loaded  with  three  tons,  nett;  or  6,000  Ibs 
The  entire  load  including  the  wagon  being  7,500,  Ibs.  its 
traction  will  be,  on  a  level  150  Ibs.,  and  on  a  hill  with  an 
cscem  of  1  in  30,  150  f  250—400  Ibs.  If  this  wagon 
thus  loaded  be  drawn  by  two  horses,  each  will  draw,  on  a 
level  75  Ibs.  and  on  the  steepest  hill  200  Ibs.;  being  the 
exact  limit  proposed  in  a  previous  paragraph. 

If  the  assumed  data  be  correct,  it  follows,  that  on  such 
a  road,  tico  wagon  horses,  of  ordinary  strength,  will  draw, 
without  over  exertion,  a  wagon  loaded  with  6000  Ibi. 

Let  us  compare  this  with  the  capabilities  of  an  ordinary 
earth  road,  on  which  I  have  put  the  traction,  on  a  level,  at 
120  Ibs. ;  and  let  us  suppose  the  limit  of  highest  grade  to 
be  1  in  12,  a  rate  of  ascent  common  on  an  unimproved 
road.  Say  that  a  common  two-horse  wagon,  weighing 
1000  Ibs.  be  loaded  wiih  one  ton.  The  wagon  and  load 
being  3000  Ibs.,  the  traction  on  a  level  will  be  180  Ibs. 
and  on  the  steepest  hill  it  will  be  180  f  255—435  Ibs. 

Thus,  with  a  load  of  three  tons  on  the  plank  road,  the 
draught  on  a  level  is  not  as  great  by  30  Ibs.  and  on  the  steep- 
est hill  by  35  Ibs.,  as  with  a  load  of  a  single  ton  on  the  earth 
road.  But  as,  on  easy  ascents,  the  earth  road  has  some- 
what the  advantage  of  the  plank  road,  (the  traction  on  the 
light  load  increasing  bat  slowly)  it  might  perhaps  be  fair  to 
say,  that  THE  CAPABILITIES  OF  THE  PLANK  ROAD  ARE  THREE 

TIMES  AS  GREAT  AS  THOSE  OF  THE  EARTH  ROAD. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  this  is  true  only 


78 

of  plank  roads  on  which  the  grades  are  brought  down  to 
1  in  30.  It  has  already  (in  chapter  5)  been  shown,  that 
when  the  maximum  grade  runs  up  to  one  foot  rise  in  a 
rod,  the  capability  of  the  road  is  reduced  by  one  third; 
and  consequently  the  power  of  a  plank  road  with  such  a 
grade  is  but  double  that  of  an  earth  road,  on  which  the 
steepest  ascent  is  1  foot  rise  in  12. 

In  comparing  the  two  roads,  however,  it  ought  to  be 
borne  in  mind,  that  the  plank  road  can  be  used  at  all  times 
and  seasons;  while  the  earth  road  is  sometimes  absolutely 
impassable  for  wagons;  and  is  often  in  winter,  for  weeks 
at  a  time,  so  deep  in  mud,  that  500  Ibs.  is  a  full  load  for  a 
two-horse  4eam. 

This  consideration  is  the  more  important,  because  it  is 
in  winter,  if  the  roads  permitted,  that  the  farmer's  chief 
hauling  would  be  done.  Plank  roads  would  enable  the 
farmer  to  dispense  with  credit  in  many  cases,  where  he 
must  now  demand  it}  for,  at  whatever  season  of  the  year 
he  came  to  town  to  make  his  purchases,  he  could  bring 
with  him  the  produce  required  to  pay  for  these.  As  it  is, 
roads  nearly  or  quite  impassable  render  it  impossible  for 
him  to  do  so.  And  again,  if  he  knew  that  he  could  haul 
at  all  seasons,  he  could  make  his  calculations  as  to  the  de- 
livery of  produce  with  certainty  and  without  risk  of  dis- 
appointment. 

There  is  yet  another  item  in  the  calculation  of  compar- 
ative capabilities  well  worth  noticing.  It  has  been  found 
in  practice,  that  the  time  consumed  to  make  any  given  trip 
on  a  plank  road  is  from  one-fourth  to  one-third  less  than 
it  is  on  the  common  road.  The  pace  is  quicker.  Return 
teams  usually  travel  at  a  trot.  There  is  no  detention  by 
mud-holes,  or  corduroy  bridging,  or  other  bad  spots  prolific 
of  accident  and  delay.  But  the  gain  of  one-third,  or  even 


79 

one-fourth,  of  the  time  of  a  team  and  teamster,  continually 
repeated,  forms  an  item  of  very  considerable  importance, 
in  the  course  of  a  year. 

The  mere  average  increase  of  power,  then,  however 
great  and  however  important  in  itself,  is  not  the  sole  meas- 
ure of  the  advantage  to  be  derived  from  the  plank  road. 
Not  only  is  the  new  servant  three  times  as  strong  as  the 
old  one;  but  he  is  always  ready,  storm  or  sunshine,  never 
refuses  to  serve,  and  executes  our  behests  in  one-third  or 
one-fourth  less  time  than  his  dilatory  predecessor. 


CHAPTER  X. 

COST,    DURABILITY   AND   EEPAIRS. 

An  estimate  of  the  average  cost  of  plank  roacis  must,  of 
necessity,  be  somewhat  uncertain,  and  must  vary  in  dif- 
ferent portions  of  the  country,  according  to  the  coat  of 
plank,  and  still  more  on  different  lines  of  road  according 
to  the  amount  of  grading  and  bridging  required.  This  lat- 
ter item,  if  a  maximum  grade  of  1  in  25  or  1  in  30  be 
established,  may  perhaps  be  fairly  averaged  at  $400  per 
mile.  White  oak  plank  may  be  safely  set  down  at  $8  a 
thousand,  board  measure,  and  will  probably  be  found  to 
average  less. 

If,  then,  we  assume  3  inches  as  the  thickness  of  the 
plank,  with  single  stringers  6  inches  wide  and  without  turn- 
outs, the  entire  cost  of  the  finished  road,  per  mile,  may  be 
averaged  as  follows : 


80 

ROAD  OF  WHITE  OAK  PLANK,  THREE  INCHES  THICK. 

Cost  of  plank,  delivered,  as  in  chapter  7,         -        $1,145 

"     of  ditching,  shaping  and  laying,     do     -         -       200 

"     of  grading  and  bridging,  -         -         .  400 

Cost  of  gate-houses  and  lots,  as  in  chapter  8,         -         75 

Engineering,  superintendence  and  contingencies,  say     180 


Total  cost  of  road,  per  mile,          •          •          §2,000 

If  2£  inch  plank  be  employed,  the  cost  will  be  about 
§200  a  mile  less.  -If  wooden  turn-outs  be  necessary 
along  the  whole  line,  say  each  forty  feet  long  and  occur- 
ring at  an  average  distance  from  each  other  of  528  feet,  or 
len  to  the  mile,  and  laid  with  2£  inch  plank,  there  must  be 
added  something  less  than  8100  a  mile. 

I  put  the  average  cost,  then,  of  plank  roads,  with  their 
gate-houses,  complete  and  ready  for  use,  at  two  thousand 
dollars  per  mile.  In  Western  New  York  they  have  not 
averaged  so  much.  The  Syracuse  and  Central  Square 
road  cost  81487  per  mile;  but  lumber  was  obtained  at  §5 
20  a  thousand.  The  Rome  and  Oswego  road,  62  miles, 
cost  81,300;  lumber  at  84  to  85  a  thousand.  The  Utica 
northern  road  cost  nearly  82,000  a  mile,  five  miles,  how- 
ever, being  through  the  forest,  at  a  cost  for  clearing,  of  8500 
a  mile.  Near  Detroit,  with  lumber  at  86  a  thousand,  a 
plank  road  cost  $1,500  a  mile. 

The  New  York  roads,  however,  are  built  of  hemlock,  a 
soft  wood,  though  not  liable  to  rot.  My  estimate  is  for 
white  oak,  which  I  believe,  will  bear  50  per  cent,  more 
travel  than  hemlock,  with  the  same  wear.  If  so,  on  all 
roads  where  the  plank  is  worn  out  instead  of  rotting  out, 
white  oak  at  88  is  as  cheap  as  hemlock  at  85  33. 

As  to  the  durability  of  the  former  that  must  be,  to  some 
extent,  a  matter  of  conjecture,  and  will  doubtless  vary,  on 


81 

roads  on  which  the  plank  rots  before  it  wears  out,  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  soil  on  which  the  plank  rests. 

It  has  been  proved,  on  the  Syracuse  road,  that  160,000 
teams,  passing  over  its  first  8  miles  in  two  years,  wore 
down  the  hemlock  plank  (where  it  rested  solidly  on  the 
ground)  one  inch,  1  believe  it  wouli  require  240,000 
learns  to  wear  white  oak  plank  down  as  much.  If  three 
inch  plank  be  used,  it  may  be  worn  down  full  two  inches 
before  it  need  to  be  replaced.  Consequently  480,000 
teams,  or  say  in  round  numbers  half  a  million  teams  may 
pass  over  it  before  it  is  worn  out. 

This  may  seem  too  high  a  calculation;  but  Gillespie 
{Roads  and  Rail  Roads,  p.  247)  informs  us,  that,  on  a 
Canada  pine  road,  over  which  passed  upwards  of  50,000 
teams  a  year,  the  road  had  worn,  in  two  years,  only  one 
quarter  of  an  inch.  But  if  100,000  teams  wore  the  plank 
down  but  a  quarter  of  an  inch,  500,000  would  wear  it  an 
inch  and  a  quarter  only.  This  more  than  justifies*  my 
estimate,  that  white  oak  would  receive  500,000  teams,  be- 
fore it  wore  down  two  inches. 

It  is  found  also,  bv  experience,  that  the  first  year's  wear 
on  a  plank  road  is  greater  than  that  of  any  year  following. 
The  first  travel  on  the  road  tears  off  the  outer  splinters 
and  fibres  which  the  saw  has  cut  across;  the  road  brooms 
up,  as  it  is  called;  and  the  coating  formed  by  eaith  and 
sand  settling  into  its  surface  protects  it  from  wear. 

I  assume,  then,  that  good  three  inch  white  oak  plank, 
solidly  laid  down,  will  bear  the  passage  of  half  a  million 
of  teams  before  it  is  worn  so  thin  that  it  requires  removal. 

As  to  the  natural  decay,  hemlock  is  said  to  last  on  an 

*  Gillespie  (p.  248)  states,  that  oak  plank  cross  walks  in  Detroit,  the 
plank,  laid  flat  on  ths  ground,  lasted  two  or  three  times  as  long  as  those 
of  pine. 

6 


82 

average  seven  years.  The  pine  roads  in  Canada  last  from 
seven  to  twelve.  I  think  white  oak  may  be  estimated  to 
last  half  as  long  again,  without  rolling,  as  either  hemlock 
or  pine.  Gillespie's  statement,  in  the  footnote  below, 
would  justify  a  much  more  favorable  estimate.  But,  as  a 
safe  calculation.  I  think  we  may  assume,  that  a  white-oak 
road  will  last  12  years  without  rotting.  Gillespie  gives  it 
as  his  opinion,  that  "oak  plunk,  well  laid,  will  last  at  least 
12  or  15  years." 

If  the  limit  of  natural  decay  for  white  oak  be  put  at  12 
years  and  the  wear  be  set  down  at  250,000  teams  for  each 
inch  of  plank,  and  it  is  considered  necessary  to  renew  the 
road  when  the  plank  has  worn  in  the  center  to  one  inch  in 
thickness,  then  it  follows,  that,  unless  there  be  expected  an 
annual  average,  throughout  the  12  years,  of  more  than 
15,000  teams  each  way,  (that  is,  over  40  teams  each  way 
each  day)  a  road  laid  with  2|  inch  plank  will  last  as  long 
as  one  laid  with  3  inches. 

For  to  wear  2|  inch  plank  down  to  1  inch,  it  will  re- 
quire 375,000  teams.  Divide  by  12,  and  we  have  upwards 
of  30,000.  Thus  30,000  teams,  or  15,000  each  way,  a 
year,  for  12  years,  will  not  wear  out  2£  inch  white  oak 
plank. 

In  chapter  7,  I  have  recommended  three  inch  plank 
where  the  average  travel,  on  the  old  road,  is  found  to  be 
15  or  20  teams  each  way  each  day,  at  the  time  of  the  pro- 
jection of  the  plank  road :  because  all  experience  proves, 
that  the  travel  may  be  expected  rapidly  to  increase;  pro- 
bably to  double  itself  in  the  first  year.  On  the  Syracuse 
road,  as  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  state,  it  more  than 
trebled  in  that  time. 

As  to  the  current  annual  repairs,  Mr.  Alvord,  of  Salina, 
in  whose  judgment  I  place  confidence,  expressed  to  me 


83 

his  opinion,  the  result  of  much  experience,  that  on  a  plank 
road  well  laid  down  and  completely  finished  at  first,  the 
average  annual  repairs,  independent  of  removal,  ought  not 
to  exceed  ten  dollars  per  mile.  The  estimate  of  a  Cana- 
dian engineer  is  somewhat  higher ;  he  puts  it  at  $20  the 
first  year;  §10  a  year  for  the  next  5  years;  and  then  in- 
creasing yearly,  until  the  entire  renewal.  But  I  am  of 
opinion  that  an  average  of  810  per  mile  is  sufficient,  if 
the  road  be  well  made.  On  3£  miles  of  the  Syracuse  road, 
which  had  been  laid  down  with  care,  the  entire  repairs, 
throughout  two  years,  had  not  exceeded  815;  that  is,  but 
little  more  than  two  dollars  a  mile,  each  year. 

A  trustworthy  man,  owning  a  horse  and  cart,  should  be 
employed,  to  pass  over  the  road  occasionally,  especially 
after  a  storm  or  a  succession  of  rainy  days,  clearing  away 
obstructions,  opening  choked-up  ditches  and  doing  what- 
ever other  repairs  are  necessary;  and  he  should  either  be 
allowed  to  charge  for  whatever  time  he  is  actually  em- 
ployed and  whatever  labor  he  may  find  it  necessary  to  hire, 
to  assist  him  on  extra  occasions ;  or  else  he  might  take 
the  annual  repairs  by  contract  at  §  10  a  mile,  or  such  oth- 
er rate  as  might  be  agreed  on,  paying  all  extra  assistance 
himself. 

We  are  thus  furnished  with  the  data  whereby  to  calcu- 
late, with  a  reliable  approach  to  certainty,  the  profits  to  the 
stockholders,  which  may  be  reasonably  expected,  on  va- 
rious lines  of  plank  road. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

PROFITS   OF   PLANK   KOADS. 

I  know  of  no  species  of  public  improvement  whatever, 
that  promises,  or  that  has  heretofore  produced,  profits  u> 
ihe  stockholders  as  great  as  Plank  Roads.  And  it  is  my 
opinion,  that  their  pecuniary  success,  based  on  a  solid 
foundation,  will  continue  and  will  increase. 

There  are  about  180  chartered  railroad  companies  in  the 
United  States;  and  their  roads  exceed,  in  aggregate  length, 
6,600  miles.  Rated  as  single  tracks,  these  have  cost  up- 
wards of  $20,000  a  mile.  Of  these  railroads  less  than 
one-third  (the  exact  proportion  is  very  nearly  30  per  cent.) 
pay  dividends  over  six  per  cent. 

Macadamized  roads  have  usually  been  less  profitable  to 
their  stockholders  than  railroads.  1  have  not  now  at  hand 
statistics  sufFieientto  furnish  a  reliable  estimate  of  theiraver- 
age  cost  and  ordinary  profits.  The  Cincinnati  and  Colum- 
bus turnpike  cost  about  $5000  a  mile;  and  the  current  re- 
pairs, without  reckoning  renewal  of  bridges,  are  from 
$300  to  $400  a  year  for  each  mile.  The  cost  of  this 
road,  is,  I  believe,  under  the  avefage;  and  the  repairs  do 
not  exceed  it.  I  think  it  would  be  safe  to  set  down  the 
cost  of  a  Macadamized  road  as  averaging  three  times  as 
much  as  that  of  a  plank  road;  and  the  annual  repairs,  as 
three  limes  as  great  as  those  of  the  plank  road  including 
xhe  sum  necessary  to  be  annually  set  aside  to  renew  the 
superstructure.  When  we  consider  that  a  macadamized 
road  does  not  afford  as  much  as  two-thirds  the  power  of 
draught  which  is  gained  by  a  plank  road,  it  will  not  appear 
surprising  that  the  former  has  usually  been  an  uoprofita- 


85 

b!e  investment.  Some  of  the  principal  lines  in  Kentucky 
do  not  pay  over  2  or  3  per  cent,  a  year.  Between  two 
such  points  as  Georgetown  and  Frankfort,  the  shares, 
originally  of  .$100,  have  sunk  below  $20  each. 

Very  different  is  the  result  in  the  case  of  plank  roads. 
1  have  already  stated,  that,  on  my  recent  trip  to  Western 
New  York,  I  had  not  been  able  to  hear  of  one  among  the 
numerous  plank  roads  recently  constructed  there,  iu  full 
operation,  that  paid  dividends  of  less  than  ten  per  cent. 
Some  of  them  divide  20,  some  25,  30  and  even  40  per. 
cent,  of  yearly  profit  over  expenses.  The  most  remarka- 
ble of  these,  perhaps,  is  the  plank  road  from  Rome  to 
Utica,  competing  with  the  Erie  Canal,  the  Buffalo  and 
Albany  Railroad  and  a  free  turnpike — and  paying  twenty- 
ftce  per  cent,  of  annual  dividends! 

If  a  report  which  has  reached  me  in  what  seems  a  reli- 
able form,  regarding  one  of  the  Plank  Roads  terminating 
in  Chicago  be  correct,  the  result  there  exceeds  anything  of 
which  I  have  heard  in  New  York.  The  tolls  on  that  road 
are  said  to  have  repaid  the  entire  cost  of  its  construction 
and  a  per  centage  over,  in  a  single  year! 

The  data  whereby  to  calculate,  with  reliable  accuracy, 
the  profits  that  may  be  anticipated  on  any  projected  line 
of  road,  are  few  and  simple. 

In  the  previous  chapters  I  have  supplied  most  of  them ; 
as  the  cost  of  road  (chapter  10)  which  I  have  put,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  at  82000  a  mile;  the  annual  re- 
pairs (same  chapter)  put  at  $10  a  year  per  mile;  the  an- 
nual pay  to  gate-keepers  (chapter  8)  put  at  $120  a  year, 
or  say  $24  a  year  per  mile. 

There  remains  the  annual  expense  of  management. 
This  depends,  in  a  measure,  on  the  length  of  the  road. 
Call  it  15  miles,  which  may  be  a  fair  average.  The  offi- 


86 

ces  of  Treasurer  and  Secretary  may,  if  a  suitable  penon 
can  be  found,  conveniently  be  united  in  one;  and  a  fair 
salary  would  be  $100  a  year;  the  Syracuse  and  Central 
Square  road  pays  but  $75  a  year,  and  its  annual  receipts 
exceed  $8,000.  It  is  not  customary  to  pay  any  other  offi- 
cers, neither  President  nor  Directors,  except  their  actual 
travelling  expenses,  if  called  from  a  distance  to  attend 
meetings  of  the  Board,  or  on  other  official  business.  The 
office  of  acting  Commissioner  is  usually  paid  during  the 
construction  of  the  road,  when  it  often  employs  the  greater 
portion  of  the  officer's  time ;  but  not  after  its  completion. 
There  is  no  current  expense  beyond  those  already  enu- 
merated except  small  incidentals,  as  stationary. 

I  put  down  the  annual  current  expenses,  then,  of  a  road 
of  15  miles,  as  follows: 

ANNUAL   CURRENT    EXPENSES;     PLANK     ROAD    OF    15    MILES. 

3  Toll-gates,  at  $120  each,  $360 

Repairs,  at  $10  a  year,  per  mile,             •             -  150 

Salary  of  Treasurer  and  Secretary,   -  100 

Travelling  expenses  of  Board  and  Incidentals,  say  65 

Total  for  15  miles,  -         $675 

Divide  this  sum  by  15,  and  we  have  the  annual  expense 
per  mile,  Forty-Five  Dollars. 

On  roads  very  much  travelled,  where  gate-keepers'  sal- 
aries must  be  raised,  the  average  will  be  greater.  So,  also, 
on  very  short  roads,  where  the  gates  may  happen  to  be 
closer  together  and  the  per  centage  of  management  a  little 
heavier.  But,  in  a  general  way,  from  $40  to  $50  a  year 
per  mile  ought  to  pay  the  entire  current  expenses  of  the 
road. 
Now  if  we  put  the  cost  per  mile  at  $2000  and  the  annu- 


87 

al  expenses  (without  renewal)  at  $45  yearly,  it  follows, 
that  if,  on  each  mile,  an  annual  toll  of  $120  t  $45,  that  is 
to  say  of  $165,  be  received,  the  stock  of  the  road  will  pay 
six  per  cent,  annual  dividends. 

But  $165  a  year  is  &  little  more  ihan  forty -five  cents  per 
day.  As  the  toll  on  a  two-horse  team  is  two  cents  per 
mile,  it  follows,  that  an  average  of  about  23  such  teams 
will  make  up  ihe  necessary  amount. 

The  general  result,  then,  is,  that  AN  AVERAGE  OF  TWELVE 

TWO- HORSE  TEAMS  PASSING  ALONG  A  PLANK  ROAD  EACH  WAY 
EACH  DAY,  WILL  RETURN  A  CLEAR  DIVIDEND  OF  SIX  PER 
CENT.  TO  THE  STOCKHOLDERS.* 

I  have  already  stated  (chapter  1)  that  on  xhe  first  plank 
road  ever  constructed  in  the  United  States,  the  number  of 
teams  increased  in  a  single  year,  from  75  a  day  to  250; 
that  is,  it  was  more  than  trebled ;  and  I  have  shown,  that 
the  cause  of  what  seems  so  astounding  an  increase  is  gen- 
eral, not  local ;  and  is  explained  by  the  fact,  that  the  road 
creates  its  own  business.  I  am  very  sure  that  it  would  be 
a  low  and  safe  calculation,  on  any  ordinary  line  of  road,  to 
estimate  the  increase  the  first  year,  at  double.  If,  then, 
by  stationing  men  along  the  line  of  any  old,  earth  road,  it 
be  ascertained,  by  a  sufficient  number  of  averages,  that 
the  daily  travel  upon  it,  in  its  present  unimproved  condi- 
tion, reaches  the  amount  of  six  teams  each  way,  each  day, 
(say  an  average  of  a  team  each  way  every  two  hours 
throughout  the  day,)  then  I  predict,  that  a  plank  road,  con- 

*0r  the  equivalent  of  12  two-horse  teams,  in  the  various  travel  along 
a  road.  There  will  be  one-horse  teams,  horsemen,  droves  of  cattle,  &c.; 
and,  probably,  some  few  four-horse  teams;  but  of  these  latter  very  few» 
until  wagons  are  constructed  expressly  for  the  plank  road.  In  New  York 
I  do  not  recollect  to  have  met,  on  a  plank  road,  a  single  wagon  drawn 
by  four  horses. 


88  v 

structed  along  that  line  will  pay  six  per  cent,  after  the  first 
year.  And  I  believe,  that,  in  many  cases,  the  calculation 
might  be  a  safe  one,  where  the  average  travel  is  but  four 
teams  each  way  daily. 

As  to  the  reiresval  of  the  superstructure  (say  at  the  end 
of  twelve  years,  on  a  white-oak  road,)  it  may  be  safely  set 
down,  that  the  increase  of  travel  after  the  first  year  will 
overpay  that. 

Calculating  at  the  above  rates,  it  will  be  found,  that  an 
average  of  twenty  teams  each  way  each  day  will  give  a 
dividend  of  twelve  per  cent.;  of  thirty  teams,  a  dividend  of 
over  nineteen  per  cent.;  of  forty  teams,  a  dividend  of  up- 
wards of  twenty-nine  per  cent.;  and  so  on.  But  on  reach- 
ing this  latter  amount  of  travel,  there  would,  probably,  be 
a  small  increase  of  the  current  expenses. 

It  ought  to  be  remembered,  however,  (as  noticed  in 
chapter  7)  that  the  period  when  plank  is  worn  out  and  re- 
newal becomes  necessary,  may  vary  as  much  as  one  to 
three,  according  as  the  road  is  constructed  on  a  permanently 
solid  bed,  or  suffered  gradually  to  become  hollow  and 
water  charged.  On  this  materially  depends  the  dividends 
that  will  be  realized. 

Geddes*  estimates,  that  a  mile  of  a  hemlock  plank  track 
will  earn,  over  and  above  repairs  and  cost  of  collecting 
tolls,  from  $2,500  to  $3,000  before  it  is  worn  out.  If  this 
be  a  correct  estimate,  a  while  oak  track  will  pay  from 
$4,000  to  $5,000 ;  say  at  least  double  the  entire  ccst  of  the 
road.  On  a  road,  then,  with  travel  sufficient  to  wear  out 
a  white-oak  track  in  wo  years,  the  dividends  should  be 


*In  his  pamphlet  containing  the  General  Plank  Road  Law  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  ank  some  appended  observations,  p.  35. 


100  per  cent.;*  if  in  four  years,  fifty  per  cent,,  and  if  in  8 
years,  25  per  cent,  over  expenses.  I  give  this,  however, 
as  a  rough  estimate  only;  for  the  expenses  on  a  road  on 
which  the  plank  wears  down  :n  two  years  (though  annu- 
ally greater  than  on  a  less  travelled  road)  will  not,  in  these 
two  years,  amount  to  as  much  as  the  eight  years'  expen- 
ses on  a  road,  where  the  plank  lasts  that  length  of  time. 

If  the  estimates  in  this  chapter  touching  the  profits  of 
plank  roads  seem  to  any  one  too  favorable  to  be  trust- 
worthy, I  remind  him  that  the  data  upon  which  they  are 
based,  have  been  furnished,  one  by  one,  in  the  preceding 
pages;  that  these  data  are  few  and  simple,  and  easily 
scrutinised;  so  that  with  but  little  trouble,  he  may  verify 
the  calculations  fur  himself. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

GENERAL    CONCLUSIONS. 

No  bargain  properly  merits  the  name  of  a  good  one 
unless  it  is  advantageous  to  both  the  contracting  parties. 
No  branch  of  trade  will  be  permanently  profitable,  unless 
its  profits  are  shared  alike  by  the  producer  and  the  consu- 
mer. And  thus  a  public  improvement,  to  win  favor  and 
general  adoption,  must  be  productive  of  pecuniary  benefit, 
direct  or  indirect,  or  both,  as  well  to  those  who  use  as  to 
those  who  construct  it.  Any  species  of  improvement 


*0n  such  a  line  there  ought  to  l>e  a  double  track ;  but  there  is  gain, 
rather  than  loss,  in  this,  on  the  above  estimate ;  since  the  double  track 
will  wear  twice  as  long  as  a  single  one,  and  will  not  cost  twice  as  much. 


90 

which  eminently  fulfils  that  condition,  will  become  a  pub- 
lic favorite;  and,  in  our  land  of  enterprise  and  energy,  it 
will  multiply  rapidly. 

I  think,  that,  in  the  preceding  pages,  I  have  shown  good 
reason  for  the  opinion,  that,  in  our  Western  country,  the 
plank  road  is  an  improvement  of  the  above  character;  that 
the  rate  of  toll  which  will  amply  remunerate  the  stock- 
holder, yielding  him  10,  20,  30  or  40  per  cent,  supplies  n 
the  teamster,  or  to  the  traveller,  a  privilege,  in  the  form  of 
road  improvement,  intrinsically  worth  five  or  ten  times 
what  it  costs.* 

Over  the  railroad,  except  for  great  lines  of  communica- 
tion connecting  one  section  of  country  with  another,  the 
plank  road,  to  atone  for  less  speed  and  power,  has  many 
advantages. 

Its  prime  cost  is  about  one  tenth  that  of  a  railroad,  and 
it  is  consequently  within  the  reach  of  moderate  means. 
Two  small  towns,  10  01  20  miles  apart,  can  connect  them- 
selves by  a  plank  road,  without  going  into  debt.  Any 
neighborhood  of  thrifty  farmers  can  construct  such  a  road 
through  their  settlement,  yet  ask  no  aid  of  foreign  capital. 
This  is  a  great  advantage,  tf  is  always,  in  my  judgment, 
a  policy  of  doubtful  propriety,  that  a  County  or  a  Town 
should  issue  to  a  large  amount,  nnd  sell  often  at  a  heavy 
discount,  their  corporate  bonds,  for  the  sake  of  reaching 
an  improvement  beyond  the  present  means  of  the  commu- 

*I  stopped  several  teamsters  on  the  New  York  plank  roads,  and  in 
reply  to  my  enquiries,  the  usual  answer  was,  that  they  had  rather  pay 
three  times  the  amount  of  the  present  toll  than  dispense  with  the  plank 
road.  The  toll,  in  that  State,  is  but  \%  cents  for  a  two-horse  team 
instead  of  two  cents,  as  with  us;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  their  grades, 
often  reaching  1  in  16,  render  their  roads  less  valuable  improvements 
than  many  of  ours. 


91 

nity  that  constructs  it.  The  danger,  indeed,  is  less  than 
when  States  resort  to  similar  expedients  ;  yet,  I  shall  re- 
joice, if,  of  the  numerous  railroads  now  in  progress  among 
us,  some  do  not  prove  too  unweildy  for  those  who 
have  undertaken  them.  The  plank  road  is  not  only 
the  adjunct,  but  may  become  the  precursor,  of  the  rail- 
road. Nor,  even  as  regards  the  ultimate  effects  upon  the 
trade  of  a  town  or  a  city,  it  is  certain,  that  the  most  pros- 
perous railroad  exerts  a  more  beneficial  influence  than 
several  radiating  plank  roads.  I  found  the  impression 
prevalent  among  the  business  men  in  Syracuse,  that  the 
plank  roads  terminating  in  that  town  had  already  been 
of  more  commercial  advantage  to  it,  than  the  Buffalo  and 
Albany  railroad,  with  all  its  speed  and  power,  and  the  vast 
business  it  does.  Whatever  a  plank  road  brings  to  a  town 
remains  there:  what  the  railroad  brings  often  passes 
through,  without  delay  or  discharge. 

Again,  after  a  railroad  is  completed,  the  task  of  its  board 
of  Directors  is  but  commencing.  Its  current  business  re- 
quires both  experience  and  capital,  to  manage  it  well ;  and 
jpon  its  judicious  management,  quite  as  much  as  upon  the 
judgment  originally  displayed  in  the  selection  of  a  profita- 
ble line  of  road,  depends  the  pecuniary  success  of  the  en- 
terprise. In  estimating  the  value  of  railroad  stock  and 
the  probable  dividends  therefrom,  the  business  character 
of  the  President  and  of  the  Directory  is  an  important  item. 
And  inasmuch  as  these  officers  may,  at  any  lime,  lose 
their  situations,  and  it  must  be  uncertain  by  whom  they 
will  be  replaced,  there  ever  is  an  uncertain  element  in  all 
our  calculations  regarding  prospective  railroad  profits. 

Not  so,  as  to  Plank  Roads.  The  road  once  completed 
and  its  toll-gate-keeper;:  stationed  at  their  places,  there  is 
an  end  to  all  labor  or  responsibility,  other  than  the  trifling 


92 

care  for  incidental  repairs,  and  the  collection,  at  stated 
times,  of  the  gate-money.  There  is  no  President,  with 
'  his  salary  of  three  thousand  a  year;  there  are  no  stations 
costing  their  thousands  or  tens  of  thousands;  no  work- 
shops to  build  and  keep  up  ;  no  cars,  no  locomotives,  to 
buy  and  repair  and  replace;  no  conductors,  firemen,  brake- 
men  and  a  long  et  cetera  of  hired  operatives  to  employ. 
The  Directors  have  but  to  say  to  the  public  :  "  The  road  is 
ready  for  you  ;  use  it."  And  the  same  teamsters  and  the 
same  wagons,  and  the  same  horses  that  now  struggle 
through  mud  and  mire  will  take  their  places,  at  once,  upon 
its  smooth  and  graded  surface.  If  the  line  is  judiciously 
selected  and  the  road  properly  constructed,  it  must  pay- 
There  is  no  contingency  of  good  or  bad  management  corn- 
ing in  as  a  disturbing  element  in  the  calculation  of  i;s 
expected  profits. 

Here,  in  our  Western  country,  where  practical  talent 
capable  of  grasping  and  combining  and  harmonizing  the 
complicated  details  of  an  extensive  business,  is  not  always 
to  be  had,  the  above  considerations  must  be  admitted  to 
have  great  weight,  in  determining  the  relative  value  of 
stock,  as  between  railways  and  plank  roads. 

As  to  Macadamized  roads,  they  must  now  be  considered 
out  of  date,  except  in  locations  where  plank  cannot  be 
had,  at  any  reasonable  rate.  Costing  three  limes  as  much 
both  to  construct  and  to  repair,  as  plank  roads,  their  capa- 
bilities, even  when  in  good  repair,  are  not  greater  as  com- 
pared to  those  of  the  latter,  than  as  two  to  three.  When 
in  bad  repair,  as  many  of  them  are  habitually  kept,  they 
are  no  better  than  the  common  earth-road;  sometimes 
worse. 

These  common  eunh-roads  will  soon  cease  to  be  used, 
in  our  Western  country,  except  as  neighborhood  and  cross 


93 

roads,  where  the  population  is  sparse  and  the  amount  of 
travel  is  small.  The  prejudice  now  existing  against  the 
principle  of  road-toll  will  die  away,  and  be  replaced  by 
wonder  that  the  present  unjust  system  of  road  taxation 
should  have  been  tolerated  so  long.*  Those  who  use  will 
pay,  as  they  should  do;  and  men  who  do  not  use  and  are 
not  benefitted,  will  not  be  called  off,  for  others'  advantage, 
from  that  daily  labor  which  is  their  sole  dependance  for 
support. 


*I  commend  to  those  among  my  fellow-citizens  of  Indiana,  who  may 
be  disposed  to  condemn  the  system  of  road-toll,  and  to  prefer,  in  its 
atead,  the  provisions  of  the  existing  law  for  keeping  our  State  and  County 
highways  in  repair,  a  more  careful  perusal  of  that  law  than  is  usually 
bestowed  on  sucli  enactments.  It  will  be  found  among  the  general  laws 
passed  during  the  session  of  1848-9,  commencing  at  page  100. 

Section  101  of  that  law  (page  113)  provides,  that  "  the  Board  of  Coun- 
ty Commissioners  may,  at  their  March  session  in  each  year,  assess  as  a 
road-tax  on  all  personal  and  real  estate  subject  to  taxation  for  County 
and  State  purposes,  a  sum  not  exceeding  ten  cents  on  the  one  hundred 
dollars  of  the  appraised  value  thereof,  or  they  may,  at  their  discretion, 
•dispense  with  any  tax  on  real  and  personal  property." 

And  section  106  (page  114)  further  provides,  that  "whenever  the 
County  Commissioners  of  any  county  shall  dispense  with  any  road  tax 
on  real  and  personal  property,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Supervisors  cf 
the  road  districts  in  such  county  to  require  and  notify  the  inhabitants  of 
their  respective  districts  liable  to  perform  road  labor  (that  is,  as  a  general 
rule,  all  male  inhabitants  of  the  district  between  the  ages  of  twenty -one 
and  fifty  years,)  to  work  on  the  highways  whenever,  and  such  number  of 
days  in  each  year,  as  shall  be  necessary  to  put  and  keep  the  highways  of 
*uch  district  in  good  repair,  and  at  such  time  or  times  as  shall  be  best 
adapted  to  the  accomplishment  of  such  object,  assessing  such  labor 
equally  upon  all  the  inhabitants  liable  thereto." 

No  restriction  as  to  the  amount  of  labor;  no  distinction  made  between 
the  man  who  owns  ten  thousand  acrejs  and  the  day-laborer  who  never 
called  a  foot  of  soil  his  own  in  his  life ;  whose  only  property  is  his  labor, 
worth  fifty  or  seventy-five  cents  a  day  to  him ;  who  has  neither  horse 
nor  wagon,  nor  carriage  to  cut  up  the  roads,  nor  real  estate  to  be  ad- 
vanced in  value  by  opening  or  improving  them.  And  all  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  Commissioners,  who  take  money  out  of  their  own  pockets, 
when  they  impose  a  heavy  real-estate  tax. 


94 

There  is  but  one  difficulty  that  may  stand  in  the  way  of 
the  rapid  and  universal  spread  of  this  improvement;  and 
that  is,  bad  legislation  on  the  subject.  Kentucky  will 
never  see  plank  roads  multiply  within  her  borders  until  her 
Legislature  shows  a  liitle  more  common  sense  than  it  has 
hitherto  done,  in  framing  a  general  law  on  the  subject. 
The  present  law,  (see  Appendix)  permits  a  rate  of  toll 
full  twice  as  high  as  that  of  New  York,  and  nearly  twice 
as  high  as  that  to  which  we  are  limited  in  Indiana;  and 
then  imposes  on  the  stockholders  the  condition,  equally 
absurd  and  mischievous,  that  they  shall  not  divide  over 
ten  per  cent,  annual  dividends. 

Here  we  have  the  proper  restriction,  which  would  effec- 
tually protect  the  public,  omitted  ;  and  for  it  is  substituted 
another,  of  which  the  only  effect,  in  practice,  is,  either  to 
destroy  enterprise  or  to  encourage  evasion  of  the  law. 
This  ten  per  cent,  restriction  was  tried  in  New  York  and 
repealed.  It  was  found,  that  when  men  were  disposed  to 
conform  to  it,  to  the  letter,  it  effectually  discouraged  the 
making  of  plank  roads  at  all ;  and  that  where  these  roads 
were  made,  its  provisions  were  uniformly  evaded  by  lav- 
ishing unnecessary  expenses  on  the  road,  or,  more  fre- 
quently, extravagant  salaries  on  its  officers.  There  would 
be  as  much  justice  and  reason,  when  a  merchant  applies 
for  license  to  keep  store,  in  granting  that  license  only  on 
condition  that  all  his  nett  profits  over  ten  per  cent,  should 
be  paid  into  the  State  treasury,  as  in  decreeing  that  the 
business  of  road-making,  no  matter  how  well  managed, 
shall  yield  ten  per  cent,  profit  only.  This  is  a  direct  pre- 
mium on  unthrift  and  extravagance. 

Doubtless  the  public  require  protection,  in  such  a  case, 
against  the  unreasonable  demands  of  grasping  stockhold- 
ers. Such  protection  they  ought  to  have ;  but  such  pro- 


95 

lection,  by  the  present  Plank  Road  law  of  Kentucky,  they 
have  not.  They  may  be  required  to  pay  five  cents  toll 
per  mile  for  a  four-horse  wagon  ;  and  ten  cents  per  mile 
for  every  score  of  cattle  driven  along  their  roads.  That 
is  an  imposition.  Two  and  a  half  cents,  or  at  most  three 
cents,  is  all  that  ought  to  be  paid  for  a  four-horse  team, 
and  three  or  four  cents  for  a  score  of  cattle.  A  restriction 
to  low  rates  of  toll  is  the  proper  protection,  and  the  only 
possible  protection.  The  other  paralizes  enterprise,  with- 
out protecting  industry. 

Wherever  wisely  considered,  judicious  laws  prevail,  the 
PLANK  ROAD  will  become  the  great  improvement  of  the 
West.  It  will  remain  an  element,  second  only  to  the 
steam  navigation  of  our  noble  rivers,  in  the  prosperity, 
hitherto  unexampled  in  human  history,  that  has  blessed, 
and  is  blessing,  our  favored  country. 


APPENDIX; 


%*  Thr.  New  York  General  P'ank  Poad  Lnw  is  given,  as  being  the 
most  complete  yet  pa.-std,  and  as  having  iurnis'  ed  the  original,  of  which 
parts  have  been  incorporated  into  the  Plank  Road  Laws  of  most  other 
States. 

The  opinion  of  Judge  Gjidley  settles  some  important  points  of  law  in 
connection  with  tlii.s  f-pcc i<-a  oi  improvement;  a^,  tluit  a  plank  road  or 
any  other  toll*  (I  road,  located  on  the  line  of  an  old  highway,  still  re- 
mains a  puWic  hi^hwny  :  and  that  for  any  damage,  or  inconvenience  suf- 
fered by  any  one  living  on  the  line  of  tuch  a  road  by  its  proper  andne- 
eestarijccns'r:ict:fii  i.r  rvyw/r*,  he  can  recover  no  damages;  but  fur  any 
unusual  or  unreasonable  exercLe  of  this  ri^ht  to  constiuct  and  repair,  the 
Company  is  liable. 


NEW  YORK  PLANK  ROAD  ACT. 


CHAPTER  210— LAWS  OF  1847. 

AN  ACT  to  provide  for  the  incorporation  of  companisa  to  construct 
plank  roads,  and  of  companies  to  construct  turnpike  roads. 

Passed  May  7, 1847. 

The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  As- 
sembly, do  enact  as  follows : 

1.  Any  number  of  persons  not  loss  than  five,  may  be  formed  into  a 
corporation,  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  and  owning  a  plank  road  or 
a  turnpike  road,  by  complying  with  the  following  requirements  :  Notice 
shall  be  given  in  at  least  one  newspaper,  printed  in  each  county  through 
which  said  road  is  intended  to  be  constiucted,  of  the  time  and  place  or 
places  where  books  for  subscribing  to  the  stock  of  such  road  will  be 
opened ;  and  when  stock  to  the  amount  of  at  least  five  hundred  dollars 
for  every  mile  of  the  road  so  intended  to  be  built,  shall  be  in  good  faith 
subscribed,  [and  five  per  cent,  paid  thereon,  as  hereinafter  required,]* 
then  the  said  subscribers  may  upon  due^and  proper  notice,  elect  directors 
for  the  said  company  ;  and  thereupon,  they  shall  severally  subscribe  ar- 
ticles of  association,  in  which  shall  be  set  forth  the  name  of  the  com- 
pany, the  number  of  years  that  the  same  is  to  continue,  which  shall  not 
oxceed  thirty  years  from  the  date  of  said  articles,  whether  it  is  a  plank 
road  or  a  turnpike,  which  the  company  is  formed  to  construct;  the 
amount  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  company ;  the  number  of  shares  of 
which  the  said  stock  shall  consist ;  the  number  of  directors,  and  their 
names,  who  shall  manage  the  concerns  of  the  company  for  the  first  year, 
and  shall  hold  their  offices  until  others  are  elected  ;  the  place  from  and 
to  which  the  proposed  road  is  to  be  constructed ;  and  each  town,  city  and 
village  into  or  through  which  it  is  intended  to  pass,  and  its  length,  as 
near  as  may  be.  Each  subscriber  to  such  articles  of  association,  shall 
subscribe  thereto  his  name  and  place  of  residence,  and  th-3  number  of 

*  The  words  "  and  five  per  cent,  p-iid  thereon,  as  hereinafter  required," 
repealed  by  i  hapter  230,  Laws  of  1849. 

7 


shares  of  stock  taken  by  him  in  said  company. '  ^The  said  articles  of 
association  may,  on  complying  with  the  provisions  of  the  next  section, 
be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state,  and  thereupon,  the  per- 
sons who  have  subscribed,  and  all  persons  who  shall  from  time  to  time 
become  stockholders  in  such  company,  shall  be  a  body  corporate,  by  the 
name  specified  in  such  articles,  and  shall  possess  the  powers  and  privi- 
leges, and  be  subject  to  the  provisions  contained  in  titles  three  and  four 
of  chapter  eighteen,  of  the  first  part  of  the  Revised  Statutes. 

2.  Such  articles  of  association  shall  not  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the 
secretary  of  state,  until  five  per  cent,  on  the  amount  of  the  stock  sub- 
scribed thereto,  shall  have  been  actually  and  in  good  faith  paid,  in  cash, 
to  the  directors  named  in  such  articles,  nor  until  there  is  endorsed  there- 
on, or  annexed  thereto,  an  affidavit  made  by  at  least  three  of  the  direc- 
tors named  in  such  articles,  that  the  amount  of  capital  stock  required  by 
the  first  section  has  been  subscribed,  and  that  five  per  cent,  on  the 
amount  has  actually  been  paid  in. 

3.  A  copy  of  any  articles  of  association  filed  in  pursuance  of  this  act, 
with  a  copy  of  the  affidavit  aforesaid  endorsed  thereon  or  annexed  there- 
to, and  certified  to  be  a  copy  by  the  secretary  of  this  state  or  his  deputy, 
shall  in  all  courts  and  places  be  presumptive  evidence  of  the  incorpora- 
tion of  such  company,  and  of  the  facts  therein  stated. 

4.  Whenever  any  such  company  shall  be  desirous  to  construct  a  plank 
road  or  a  turnpike  road  through  any  part  of  any  county,  it  shall  make 
application  to  the  board  of  supervisors  of  such  county  at  any  meeting 
thereof  legally  held,  for  authority  to  lay  out  and  construct  such  road,  and 
to  take  the  real  estate  necessary  for  such  purpose  ;  and  the  application 
shall  set  forth  the  route  and  character  of  the  proposed  road  as  the  same 
shall  have  been  described  in  the  articles  of  association  filed  as  aforesaid. 
Public  notice  of  the  application  shall  be  given  by  the  company  previous 
to  presenting  the  same  to  such  board  by  publishing  said  notice  once  in 
each  week  for  six  successive  weeks  in  all  the  public  newspapers  printed 
in  such  county,  or  in  three  of  such  newspapers  if  more  than  three  are 
published  in  such  county,  which  notice  shall  specify  the  time  when  such 
application  will  be  presented  to  such  board,  the  character  of  the  pro- 
posed road,  and  each  town,  city  and  village  in  or  through  which  it  is 
proposed  to  construct  the  same. 

5.  If  such  company  shall  desire  a  special  meeting  of  the  board  of  su- 
pervisors for  hearing  the  same,  any  three  members  of  such  board  may 
fix  the  time  of  such  meeting,  and  a  notice  thereof  shall  be  served  on 
each  of  the  other  supervisors  of  the  county,  by  delivering  the  same  to 
him  personally,  or  by  leaving  it  at  his  place  of  residence  at  least  twenty 
days  before  the  day  appointed  for  such  meeting.    The  expenses  of  such 
special  meeting  and  of  notifying  the  members  of  such  board  thereof, 
shall  be  paid  by  such  company. 


6.  Upon  the  hearing  of  said  application,  all  persons  residing  in  such 
county,  or  owning  real  estate  in  any  of  the  towns  through  which  it  is 
proposed  to  construct  such  road,  may  appear  and  be  heard  in  respect 
thereto.    Such  board  may  take  testimony  in  respect  to  such  application, 
or  may  authorize  it  to  be  taken  by  any  judicial  officer  of  such  county, 
and  it  may  adjourn  the  hearing  from  time  to  time. 

7.  If  after  hearing  such  application,  such  board  shall  be  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  public  interests  will  be  promoted  by  the  construction  of  such 
road  on  the  proposed  route  as  shall  be  described  in  the  application,  it 
may,  if  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  such  board  shall  assent 
thereto,  by  an  order  to  be  entered  in  its  minutes,  authorize  such  company 
to  construct  such  a  road  upon  the  route  specified  in  the  application,  and 
to  take  the  real  estate  necessary  to  be  used  for  that  purpose,  a  copy  of 
which  order  certified  by  the  clerk  of  such  board  the  same  company  shall 
cause  to  be  recorded  in  the  clerk's  office  of  such  county  before  it  shall 
proceed  to  do  any  act  by  virtue  thereof. 

8.  Whenever  any  such  board  shall  grant  such  an  application,  it  shall 
appoint  three  disinterested  persons  who  are  not  the  owners  of  real  estate 
in  any  town  through  which  such  road  shall  be  proposed  to  be  constructed, 
or  in  any  town  adjoining  such  town,  commissioners  to  lay  out  such  road ; 
the  said  commissioners  after  taking  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  constitu- 
tion shall  proceed  without  unnecessary  delay  to  lay  out  the  route  of  such 
road  in  such  manner  as  in  their  opinion  will  best  promote  the  public  in- 
terest; they  shall  hear  all  persons  interested  who  shall  apply  to  them  to 
be  heard,  they  may  take  testimony  in  relation  thereto,  they  shall  cause 
an  accurate  survey  and  description  to  be  made  of  such  route  and  of  the 
land  necessary  to  be  taken  by  such  company  for  the  construction  of  such 
road  and  the  necessary  buildings  and  gates,  they  shall  subscribe  such 
survey  and  acknowledge  its  execution  as  the  execuiion  of  deeds  is  re- 
quired to  be  acknowledged,  in  order  that  they  maybe  recorded,  and  they 
shall  cause  such  survey  to  be  recorded  in  the  clerk's  office  of  such 
county.    If  such  company  shall  intend  to  construct  its  road  continuously 
in  or  through  more  than  one  county,  such  application  shall  specify  the 
number  of  commissioners  which  the  company  desire  to  have  appointed 
to  lay  out  such  road,  which  shall  not  exceed  three  for  each  county,  and 
an  equal  number  of  such  commissioners  shall  be  appointed  by  the  board 
of  supervisors  of  each  county  in  or  through  which  it  shall  be  proposed  to 
construct  such  road,  but  the  whole  number  of  such  commissioners  shall 
not  be  less  than  three,  nor  without  the  consent  of  such  company  shall  it 
exceed  six,  unless  the  number  of  counties  in  or  through  which  it  is  pro- 
posed to  construct  such  road  shall  exceed  that  number.    And  the  com- 
missioners so  appointed  shall  lay  out  the  whole  of  such  road,  and  shall 
make  out  a  separate  survey  of  so  much  thereof  as  lies  in  each  county; 


100 

which  shall  be  subscribed  and  acknowledged  as  aforesaid  and  recorded 
in  the  county  clerk's  office  of  such  county.*  Such  company  shall  pay 
each  of  the  said  commissioners  two  dollars  for  every  day  spent  by  him 
in  the  performance  of  his  duties  as  such  commissioner,  and  his  necessary 
expenses. 

9.  No  such  road  shall  be  laid  out  through  any  orchard  to  the  injury  or 
destruction  of  fruit  trees,  or  through  any  garden  without  the  consent  of 
the  owner  thereof,  if  such  orchard  be  of  the  growth  of  four  years  or 
more,  or  if  such  garden  has  been  cultivated  four  years  or  more  before  the 
laying  out  of  such  road,  nor  shall  any  such  road  be  laid  out  through  any 
dwelling  house  or  buildings  connected  therewith,  or  any  yards  or  enclo- 
sures necessary  for  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  such  dwelling  without  the 
consent  of  the  owner,  nor  shall  any  such  company  bridge  any  stream 
where  the  same  is  navigable  by  vessels  or  steamboats,  or  in  any  man- 
ner that  will  prevent  or  endanger  the  passage  of  any  raft  of  twenty -five 
feet  in  width. 

10.  No  plank  road  shall  be  made  on  the  roadway  of  any  turnpike 
company  without  the  consent  of  such  company,  and  any  plank  road 
company  formed  under  this  act  shall  have  power  to  contract  with  any 
turnpike  company  for  the  purchase  of  the  roadway  or  part  of  (he  road- 
way of  such  turnpike  company  on  such  terms  as  may  be  mutually 
agreed  on ;  whenever  a  plank  road  shall  be  made  as  provided  in  this  act 
on  or  adjoining  the  route  of  any  turnpike  road,  the  company  owning 
such  turnpike  road  is  authorized  to  abandon  that  portion  of  their  road  on 
or  adjoining  the  route  of  which  a  plank  road  is  actually  constructed  and 
used;  but  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prevent 
any  plank  road  from  crossing  any  turnpike  road,  nor  any  turnpike  road 
irom  crossing  any  plank  road. 

11.  The  route  so  laid  out  and  surveyed  by  the  said  commissioners  shall 
be  the  route  of  such  road,  and  such  company  may  enter  upon,  take  and 
hold,  subject  to  the  prpvision  of  this  act,  all  such  lands  as  the  said  sur- 
vey shall  describe  as  being  necessary  for  the  construction  of  such  road 
and  the  necessary  buildings  and  gates.    But  before  entering  upon  any  of 
such  lands,  the  company  shall  purchase  the  same  of  the  owners  thereof, 
or  shall,  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  acquire  the  right  to  enter 
upon,  take  and  hold  the  same. 

12.  If  any  owner  of  such  land  shall  from  any  cause  be  incapable  of 
selling  the  same,  or  if  such  company  cannot  agree  with  him  for  the  pur- 
chase thereof,  or  if  after  diligent  inquiry  the  name  or  residence  oi  any 
such  owner  cannot  be  ascertained,  the  company  may  present  to  the  first 

*  By  Chapter  360  of  the  laws  of  18-18,  this  section  is  so  amende*  as  to  au- 
thorize the  commissioners  to  determine  thedistance  that  the  outer  limits  of 
Uie  road  shall  be  apart,  not  however  to  be  more  thun  four  rods. 


101 

judge  or  county  judg?  of  the  county  in  which  the  lands  of  such  owner 
lie,  a  petition  setting  forth  the  grounds  of  the  application,  a  description 
of  the  lands  in  question  and  the  name  of  the  owner  if  known,  and  the 
means  that  have  b^en  taken  to  ascertain  the  name  and  residence  of  such 
owner,  if  his  name  and  residence  have  not  been  ascertained,  and  pray- 
ing that  the  compensation  and  damages  of  the  owner  of  the  lands  de- 
scribed in  the  petition  may  be  ascertained  by  a  jury.  Such  petition  shall 
be  verified  by  the  oaths  of  at  least  two  of  the  directors  of  the  company, 
and  if  it  shall  alludge  that  the  name  or  residence  of  any  owner  is  un- 
known, it  shall  be  accompanied  by  affidavits  proving  to  the  satisfaciion 
of  the  said  judge  that  all  reasonable  efforts  have  been  made  by  the  com- 
pany to  ascertain  the  name  and  residence  of  any  owner  whose  name  or 
residence  is  unknown. 

13.  On  receiving  such  petition,  the  said  judge  shall  appoint  a  time  for 
drawing  such  jury,  which  shall  be  drawn  from  the  grand  jury  box  of  tlie 
county  by  the  clerk  thereof,  at  his  office.    At  least  fourteen  days  notice 
of  the  time  and  place  of  such  drawing  shall  be  served  personally  upon 
each  owner  of  lands  described  in  the  petition,  who  shall  be  known  and 
rcsiie  i;i  the  county  where  the  lands  lie  or  by  leaving  the  same  at  his 
residence,  and  such  notice  shall  be  served  on  ah  other  owners  in  the 
manner  aforesaid  or  by  putting  the  same  into  the  post  office  directed  to 
them   at  their  respective  places  of  residence  and  paying  the  postage 
thereon,  or  by  publishing  the  same  once  in  each  week  tor  two  successive 
weeks  in  a  newspaper  printed  in  such  county,  the  first  of  which  publica- 
tions shall  be  at  least  fourteen  days  before  such  drawing. 

14.  In  case  any  lands  destiioed  in  such  petition  shall  be  owned  by  a 
married  woman,  infant,  idiot  or  insane  person,  or  by  a  non-resident  of 
the  s  ate,  the  said  judge  shall  appoint  some  competent  and  sui.able  per- 
son having  no  interest  adverse  to  such  owner  to  take  care  of  the  interests 
of  such  owner  in  respect  to  the  proceedings  to  ascertain  such  compensa- 
tion and  damages.     And  all  such  notices  as  are  required  to  be  served  on 
any  owner  resiling  in  such  county,  shall  be  served  upon  the  person  so 
appointed  in  like  manner  as  on  such  owner;  but  any  ftr.-oji  so  appoint- 
ed to  take  care  of  the  interests  of  any  such  non-rcsiaent  may  be  super- 
seded by  him. 

15.  The  said  judge  shall  attend  such  drawing  and  shall  decide  upon 
any  challenge  made   to  any  juror  drawn   by  any  person  interested^ 
Twenty-four  competent  and  disinterested  jurors,  and  aa  many  more  as 
the  said  judge  shall  direct,  shall  be  drawn;  the  clerk  shall  make,  certify 
and  deliver  to  the  judge  and  to  any  party  requiring  the  same  a  list  of 
them,  and  the  ballots  drawn  shall  bo  returned  to  the  box.     The  said 
judge,  if  he  shall  deem  it  necessary,  may  at  any  subsequent  time  direct 
the  drawing  of  an  additional  number  of  jurois,  and  thjy  shaU  be  dr^w.i, 


102 

and  all  proceedings  in  relation  to  such  drawing  shall  be  had  in  the  man- 
ner hereinbefore  provided.  Before  proceeding  to  draw  any  such  jury  the 
company  shall  furnish  to  the  said  judge  proof  by  affidavit  satisfactory  to 
him,  of  the  time  and  manner  of  serving  and  publishing  notice  of  such 
drawing,  which  affidavit  shall  be  filed  in  such  clerk's  office ;  and  no  such 
jury  shall  be  drawn  unless  it  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  said  judge 
that  the  provisions  of  this  act  in  respect  to  giving  notice  of  such  draw- 
ing have  been  complied  with. 

16.  From  the  jurors  so  drawn  the  said  judge  shall  draw  as  many  as  he 
shall  deem  necessary  to  secure  the  attendance  of  twelve,  and  he  shall 
issue  liis  precept  directed  to  the  sheriff"  cf  such  county,  either  of  his  de- 
puties or  any  constable  of  such  county  to  summon  the  jurors  so  drawn 
by  the  said  judge,  to  attend  at  the  time  and  place  therein  specified  to 
ascertain  such  compensation  and  damages.    And  he  may  from  time  to 
time,  in  case  of  the  absence  or  inability  to  serve  of  any  juror  directed  to 
be  summoned,  draw  and  direct  to  be  summoned  as  aforesaid,  as  many 
as  may  be  necessary  in  his  opinion  to  secure  the  attendance  of  twelve. 

17.  Every  juror  named  in  any  such  precept,  shall,  at  least  four  days 
before  the  day  therein  specified  for  his  attendance,  be  summoned  person- 
ally, or  by  leaving  at  his  residence,  a  notice  containing  the  substance  of 
such  precept.    The  officer  serving  such  precept,  shall  return  it  to  the 
said  judge,  with  an  affidavit  of  the  manner  of  serving  the  same,  and  of 
the  distance  necessarily  traveled  by  Mm  for  that  purpose ;  and  such  offi- 
cer shall  receive  for  making  such  service,  six  cents  a  mile  for  the  dis- 
tance so  traveled. 

18.  Every  juror  so  summoned,  who  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  attend  or 
serve,  in  pursuance  of  such  summons,  shall  be  liable  to  the  same  penal- 
ties, as  in  case  of  such  neglect  or  refusal  of  a  person  duly  summoned  as 
a  juror  in  a  court  of  record,  and  may  be  excused  by  the  said  judge  from 
attending  or  serving,  for  reasons  for  which  such  juror  might  be  so  ex- 
cused if  summoned  as  a  juror  in  such  court.    Every  juror  attending, 
shall  be  entitled  therefor  to  one  dollar  a  day,  and  his  reasonable  and  ne- 
cessary expenses  to  be  paid  by  the  company. 

19.  On  the  application  of  any  party  interested,  any  judge  or  justice  of 
the  peace,  may  issue  a  subpoena  requiring  witnesses  to  attend  before  such 
jury,  and  such  subpcena  shall  have  the  same  force  and  effect;  and  wit- 
nesses duly  subpoenaed  by  virtue  thereof,  and  refusing  or  neglecting  to 
obey  the  same,  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  penalties  and  liabilities  as 
though  such  subpcena  were  issued  from  a  court  of  record,  in  a  suit  pend- 
ing therein. 

20.  The  time  and  place  of  meeting  of  the  jury,  to  ascertain  such  com- 
pensation and  damages,  may  be  fixed  by  the  said  judge,  by  an  order  to 
be  made  by  him  at  any  time  after  receiving  such  petition ;  and  notice 


103 

thereof  shall  be  served  on  the  owners  whose  lands  are  described  in  the 
petition,  as  follows ;  on  any  owner  residing  in  the  county,  or  within  fif- 
teen miles  of  the  lands  in  question  owned  by  him,  personally,  or  by 
leaving  the  same  at  his  residence,  at  least  fourteen  days  before  the  time 
so  fixed ;  on  any  other  owner  residing  within  this  state,  and  whose  resi- 
dence is  known,  in  the  manner  aforesaid,  or  by  putting  the  notice  into 
th'j  post  office  directed  to  him  at  his  place  of  residence,  and  paying  the 
postage  thereon ;  on  any  owner  residing  out  of  the  state,  and  not  within 
fifteen  miles  of  the  lands  in  question,  owned  by  him,  by  putting  the 
notice  in  the  post  office  directed  and  paid  as  aforesaid,  at  least  forty  days 
before  the  time  so  fixed ;  and  on  owners  whose  residecce  is  unknown, 
by  publishing  the  notice  once  in  each  week  for  six  successive  weeks,  in 
one  of  the  public  newspapers  printed  in  the  county. 

21.  The  jurors  so  summoned  shall  meet  at  the  time  and  place  fixed  by 
the  said  judge  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  be  sworn  by  him  to  diligently 
enquire  and  ascertain  the  compensation  and  damages  which  ought  justly 
to  be  paid  for  the  land  described  in  the  petition,  or  for  those  of  them  in 
respect  to  which  they  shall  be  called  upon  to  enquire,  to  the  owners 
thereof,  and  for  taking  the  same  for  such  road,  and  faithfully  to  perform 
their  duty  as  such  jurors,  according  to  law. 

22.  The  said  judge  shall  attend  such  jurors,  shall  administer  oaths  to 
witnesses  called  before  them,  shall  take  minutes  of  the  testimony  given, 
and  admissions  of  the  parties  made  before  them,  shall  advise  such  jury 
as  to  the  law  applicable  to  any  case  that  may  arise,  shall  receive,  certify 
and  return  to  the  county  clerk's  office,  the  verdicts  agreed  upon  by  them, 
and  while  so  attending,  shall  have  all  the  powers  possessed  by  a  court  of 
record,  when  trying  issues  of  fact  joined  in  civil  cases. 

23.  The  jury,  after  hearing  the  parties,  and  viewing  the  lands  in  ques- 
tion, in  each  case,  shall,  by  a  verdict,  ascertain  and  determine  the  com- 
pensation and  damages  that  ought  to  be  paid  to  the  owner  for  the  land 
to  be  taken  by  the  company,  and  for  taking  the  same  for  such  road,  and 
also  the  amount  that  ought  to  be  paid  to  him  for  the  time  spent,  and  ne- 
cessary expenses  incurred  by  him  in  respect  to  the  proceedings,  to  ascer- 
tain and  determine  such  compensation  and  damages,  of  which  time  and 
expenses,  a  bill  of  items  shall  be  presented  to  the  jury,  verified  by  the 
oath  of  the  owner  or  his  agent,  and  such  compensation  and  damages 
shall  be  ascertained  and  determined  without  any  deduction  on  account 
of  any  real  or  supposed  benefit,  which  the  owners  of  such  lands  may 
dejive  from  the  construction  of  such  road. 

24.  Such  jury  shall  not  proceed  to  a  hearing  in  any  case  ontil  the  com- 
pany shall  have  produced  to  the  said  judge,  satisfactory  proof  by  affida- 
vit tL  t  the  notice  of  the  meeting  of  the  jury  has  been  given  in  such 
case,      cording  to  the  provisions  of  this  act;  and  euch  affidavit  shall  be 


104 

attached  to  and  filed  with  the  certificate  of  the  verdict  in  the  case.  And 
on  any  such  hearing,  no  evidence  or  information  shall  be  given,  nor  any 
statement  made  lo  the  jury,  of  any  proposition  by,  or  negotiation  be- 
tween the  parties  or  their  agents,  in  respect  to  any  such  lands,  or  such 
compensation  or  damages,  nor  shall  any  such  petition  contain  any  such 
statement  or  information. 

25.  Such  jury,  rinding  any  such  verdict,  shall,  after  agreeing  upon  the 
same,  make  a  certificate  thereof,  and  sign  and  deliver  the  same  to  the 
said  judge;  and  shall  embrace  therein  a  particular  description  of  the 
land,  in  respect  to  which  it  is  found.    Such  certificate  may  include  one 
or  more  verdicts,  in  the  discretion  of  the  jury.    Every  such  certificate 
shall  be  certified  by  the  judge  to  have  been  made  by  such  jury ;  and 
shall  be  recorded  in  the  records  of  deeds,  in  the  clerk's  office  of  the 
county  where  the  lands  therein  described  shall  lie,  at  the  expense  of  the 
company. 

26.  Whenever  it  shall  become  necessary  for  any  such  company  to  use 
any  part  of  a  public  highway  for  the  construction  of  a  plank  or  turn- 
pike road,  the  supervisor  and  commissioners  of  highways  of  the  town  in 
which  such  highways  is  situated,  or  a  majority,  if  there  be  more  than 
one  such  commissioner  in  such  town,  may  agree  with  such  company 
upon  the  compensation  and  damages  to  be  paid  by  said  company,  for 
taking  and  using  such  highway  for  the  purposes  aforesaid.    Such  agree- 
ment shall  be  in  writing,  and  shall  be  filed  and  recorded  in  the  town 
clerk's  office  of  such  town.    In  case  such  an  agreement  cannot  be  made, 
the  compensation  and  damages  lor  taking  such  highway  lor  such  pur- 
pose, shall  be  ascertained  in  the  same  manner  as  the  compensation  and 
damages  for  taking  the  property  of  individuals.    Such  compensation  and 
damages  shall  be  paid  to  the  said  commissioners,  to  be  expended  by 
them  in  improving  the  highways  of  such  town. 

27.  Any  party  interested  in  any  such  verdict,  may,  within  twenty  days 
after  being  notified  of  the  rendition  thereof,  apply  to  the  supreme  court 
for  a  new  trial,  and  it  may  be  granted  upon  such  terms  as  to  the  costs  of 
the  application  and  of  the  first  trial,  as  that  court  shall  deem  reasonable. 
If  a  new  trial  shall  be  granted,  a  jury  shall  be  drawn  therefor,  and  the 
same  proceedings  shall  be  had  as  are  hereinbefore  provided. 

28.  Within  forty  days  after  the  rendition  of  any  such  verdict,  if  a  new 
trial  shall  not  be  applied  for,  the  company  shall  pay  to  the  person  enti- 
tled to  receive  the  same  the  amount  thereol,  or  shall  make  a  legal  tender 
thereof  to  him,  if  he  shall  refuse  to  receive  the  same ;  and  the  company 
may  thereupon  enter  upon  the  lands  in  respect  to  which  such  verdict  was 
rendered,  and  take  and  hold  the  same  to  it  and  its  assigns,  so  long  as  it 
shall  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  such  a  road  as  such  company  was  form- 
o<i  to  construct. 


105 

29.  If  any  person  entitled  to  receive  the  amount  of  any  such  verdict 
be  not  a  resident  of  this  state,  or  cannot  be  found  therein  after  diligent 
search,  the  company  may  furnish  to  the  saiJ  judge  satisfactory  proof,  by 
affidavit,  of  such  tact,  and  he  shall  thereupon  make  an  order  that  the 
amount  of  such  verdict  be  paid  to  the  treasurer  of  the  county  in  which 
the  lands  lie,  in  respect  to  which  such  verdict  was  found  for  the  use  of 
such  o\vner,  and  that  notice  of  such  payment  shall  be  given  by  publish- 
ing the  same  once  in  each  week,  for  six  successive  weeks  in  a  newspa- 
per published  in  the  county.    On  satisfactory  proof  being  made  to  the 
said  judge,  by  affidavit,  within  three  months  from  the  time  of  making 
the  last  mentioned  order,  of  such  payment  and  publication,  he  shall 
make  an  order  authorizing  the  company  to  take  and  hold  the  land  in  re- 
spect to  which  such  verdict  was  rendered,  in  the  same  manner  and  with 
the  same  effect  as  i  f  such  payment  had  been  made  to  the  owner  person- 
ally.   The  affidavit  and  orders  mentioned  in  this  section,  and  all  other 
affidavits  and  orders  made,  and  precepts  issued  in  the  course  of  the  pro- 
ceedings under  this  act,  in  relation  to  the  acquisition  of  the  land  to  be 
used  for  such  road,  shall  be  hied  in  the  county  clerk's  office,  and  all  such 
orders  shall  be  recorded  by  such  clurk  in  the  records  of  deeds,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  company. 

30.  If  any  owner  shall  apply  for  a  new  trial,  the  company,  upon  de- 
positing the  amount  of  the  verdict  sought  to  be  set  aside,  in  such  man- 
ner as  the  said  judge  shall,  upon  hearing  the  parties,  direct,  in  trust  that 
the  same  or  so  much  thereof  as  the  said  owner  shall  be  entitled  to  re- 
ceive, shall  be  paid  to  him  on  demand,  and  on  giving  such  security,  by 
bond,  as  the  judge  shall  approve,  for  the  payment  to  such  owner  of  any 
sum  which  he  may  be  entitled  to  receive  from  the  company,  in  respect 
to  the  land  in  question,  by  reason  of  any  verdict  or  the  judgment  of  any 
court,  for  such  compensation,  damages,  costs  and  expenses,  the  company 
may  enter  upon  and  use  such  lands  for  the  purposes  of  such  road,  but 
the  title  of  the  owner  thereof  shall  not  be  divested  until  the  payment  or 
legal  tender  to  him  of  the  whole  amount  which  he  shall  be  entitled  to 
receive  from  the  company  for  such  compensation,  damages,  costs  and 
expenses ;  and  on  such  payment  or  tender  being  made,  the  company 
shall  be  entitled  to  take  and  to  hold  such  lands  to  it  and  to  its  assigns  so 
long  as  the  same  shall  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  such  a  road  as  such 
company  was  formed  to  construct. 

31.  Every  plank  road  made  by  virtus  of  this  act,  shall  be  laid  out  at 
least  four  rods  wide,*  and  shall  be  so  constructed  as  to  make,  secure  and 

*  By  Chapter  360,  laws  of  1848,  the  commissioners  are  authorized  to  de- 
termine the  width.  By  Chapter  250,  of  laws  of  1849,  Section  7,  the  inspec- 
tors are  authorized  to  determine  the  width,  in  case  the  same  has  not  been 
determined  by  the  commissioners,  but  in  no  case  are  the  outer  limits  to  be 
more  than  four  rods  apart  without  the  voluntary  sale  of  the  land  by  the 
owner. 


106 

maintain  a  smooth  and  permanent  road,  the  track  of  which  shall  be1 
made  of  timber,  plank  or  other  hard  material,  so  that  the  same  shall 
form  a  hard  and  even  surface,  and  be  so  constructed  as  to  permit  car- 
riages  and  other  vehicles  conveniently  and  easily  to  pass  each  other,  am' 
also  so  as  to  permit  all  carriages  to  pass  on  and  off  where  such  road  is 
intersected  by  other  roads. 

32.  Every  turnpike  road  that  shall  be  constructed  by  virtue  of  this  act. 
shall  be  laid  out  at  least  four  rods  wide ;  and  shall  be  bedded  with  stone 
gravel  or  such  other  materials  as  may  be  found  on  the  line  thereof,  anc 
faced  with  broken  stone  or  gravel,  so  as  to  form  a  hard  and  even  sur. 
face,  with  good  and  sufficient  ditches  on  each  side  "wherever  the  same  is 
practicable.    The  arch  or  bed  of  such  road  shall  be  at  least  eighteen  feet 
wide,  and  shall  be  so  constructed  as  to  permit  carriages  and  other  vehi- 
cles conveniently  to  pass  each  other,  and  to  pass  on  and  off  such  turn- 
pike where  it  may  be  intersected  by  other  roads. 

33.  In  each  county  of  this  state,  in  which  there  shall  be  any  plank 
road,  or  turnpike  road,  constructed  by  virtue  of  this  act,  there  shall  be 
three  inspectors  of  such  roads,  who  shall  not  be  interested  in  any  plank 
or  turnpike  road  in  such  county.    They  shall  be  appointed  by  the  board 
of  supervisors  of  the  county,  and  shall  hold  their  offices  during  the  pleas- 
ure of  such  board.    Before  entering  on  their  duties,  such  inspectors  shall 
take  and  subscribe  the  constitutional  oath  of  office,  and  file  the  same  in 
the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county. 

34.  Whenever  any  such  company  shall  have  completed  their  road,  or 
any  five*  consecutive  miles  thereof,  it  may  apply  to  any  two  of  the  in- 
spectors to  be  appointed  pursuant  to  this  act,  in  the  county  where  said 
road  or  a  part  thereof,  so  completed  and  to  be  inspected  is  located,  to  in- 
spect the  same ;  or  if  such  inspectors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  are  satis- 
fied on  inspection,  that  the  road  so  inspected  is  made  and  completed  ae- 
cording  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act,  they  shall  grant  a 
certificate  to  that  effect,  which  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  county 
clerk.    The  inspectors  shall  be  allowed  two  dollars  per  day  for  their  ser- 
vices pursuant  to  this  section,  to  be  paid  by  the  company  whose  road 
they  inspect 

35.  Upon  filing  as  aforesaid  such  certificate,  the  company  owning  any 
plank  road  so  inspected,  may  erect  one  or  more  toll  gates  upon  theii 
road,  but  not  within  three  miles  of  each  other,  and  may  demand  and  re- 
ceive  toll,  not  exceeding  one  and  a  half  cents  per  mile  for  any  vehicle 
drawn  by  two  animals,  and  for  any  vehicle  drawn  by  more  than  two 
animals,  one-half  cent  per  mile  for  every  additional  animal ;  for  every 
vehicle  drawn  by  one  animal,  three-quarters  of  a  cent  per  mile ;  for 

*  By  Chapter  250,  of  laws  of  1849,  Section  4,  it  is  provided  that  when  three 
consecutive  miles  are  completed,  the  inspectors  may  be  called  on,  &c. 


107 

every  score  of  sheep  or  swine,  and  for  every  score  of  neat  cattle,  one 
cent  per  mile ;  for  every  horse  and  rider,  or  led  horse,  half  a  cent  per 
mile.  [In  no  case  shall  any  plank  road  company  charge  or  receive  rates 
of  toll  which  will  enable  said  company  to  divide  more,  nor  shall  any 
company  divide  more  than  ten  per  cent,  per  annum  on  their  capital  stock 
actually  paid  in  and  invested  in  their  road  after  keeping  the  road  in  re- 
pair, and  appropriating  not  exceeding  ten  per  cent,  per  annum  on.  their 
capital  stock  actually  paid  in  and  invested  in  their  road  after  keeping 
ths  road  in  repair,  and  appropriating  not  exceeding  ten  per  cent,  per  an- 
num on  their  capital  stock  invested  as  aforesaid,  as  a  fund  for  the  recon- 
struction of  their  road  when  necessary.]* 

36.  Upon  filing  such  certificate  as  aforesaid,  the  company  owning  any 
turnpike  road  so  inspected,  may  erect  one  or  more  to1!  gates  upon  its 
road,  but  not  within  three  miles  of  each  other,  and  may  demand  and  re- 
ceive toll  not  exceeding  the  following  rates :  For  every  vehicle  drawn  by 
one  animal,  three-quarters  of  a  cent  a  mile;  for  every  vehicle  drawn  by 
two  animals,  one  and  one-quarter  cents  a  mile ;  and  for  every  vehicle 
drawn  by  more  than  tsvo  animals,  one  and  one  quarter  cents  a  mile ;  and 
one  quarter  cent  additional  a  mile  for  every  animal  more  than  two ;  for 
every  score  of  neat  cattle,  one  cent  a  mile  ;  for  every  score  of  sheep  or 
swine,  one-half  cent  a  mile  ;  and  in  the  same  proportion  for  any  greater 
or  less  number  of  neat  cattle,  sheep  or  swine ;  for  every  horse  and  rider 
or  led  horse,  one-half  cent  a  mile  ;  and  in  no  case  shall  any  such  turn- 
pike company  charge  or  receive  rates  of  toll  which  will  enable  it  to  di- 
vide more  than  twelve  per  cent  on  its  capital  stock  actually  paid  in,  in 
cash,  and  invested  in  its  road,  after  paying  the  expenses  of  managing 
the  same,  and  keeping  it  in  repair. 

37.  The  commissioners  of  highways  of  any  town  in  which  a  toll  gate 
may  be  located  on  any  such  road,  or  in  an  adjoining  town,  whenever 
they  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  location  ol 
such  gate  is  unjust  to  the  public  interest,  by  reason  of  the  proximity  of 
diverging  roads,  or  for  other  reasons,  may  on  at  least  fifteen  days  writ- 
ten notice  to  the  president  or  secretary  of  the  said  company,  apply  to  the 
county  court  of  the  county  in  which  such  gate  is  located,  for  an  order  to 
alter  or  change  the  location  of  the  said  gate ;  the  court,  on  such  applica- 
tion, and  on  hearing  the  respective  parties,  and  on  viewing  the  premises, 
if  the  said  court  shall  deem  such  view  necessary,  shall  make  such  order 
in  the  matter,  as  to  the  said  court  may  seem  just  and  proper;  and  either 
party  may,  within  fifteen  days  thereafter,  appeal  from  such  order  to  the 
supreme  court,  on  giving  such  security  as  said  county  judge  shall  re 
quire ;  such  order,  unless  appealed  from,  shall  be  observed  by  the  re- 
spective parties,  and  may  be  enforced  by  attachment  or  otherwise,  as  the 

*  Repealed  by  Chapter  250  of  laws  of  1843,  section  0. 


108 

said  court  shall  direct :  And  if  appealed  from,  the  decision  of  the  su- 
preme court,  may  direct  the  payment  of  costs  in  the  premises,  as  shall 
be  deemed  just  and  equitable. 

38.  The  business  and  property  of  such  company,  shall  be  managed 
and  conducted  by  a  board  of  direclors,  consisting  of  not  less  than  five 
nor  more  than  nine,  who,  after  the  first  year,  shall  be  elected  at  such 
time  and  place  as  shall  be  directed  by  the  by-laws  of  such  corporation, 
and  public  notice  shall  be  given  of  the  lime  and  place  of  holding  such 
election,  not  less  than  twenty  days  previous  thereto,  in  a  newspaper 
printed  in  each  county  in  or  through  which  the  road  of  such  company  is 
located ;  the  election  shall  be  made  by  such  of  the  stockholders  as  shall 
attend  for  that  purpose,  either  in  person  or  by  proxy ;  all  elections  shall 
be  by  ballot,  and  each  stockholder  shall  be  entitled  to  as  many  votes  as 
he  shall  own  shares  of  stock,  and  the  persons  having  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  votes,  shall  be  directors ;  whenever  any  vacancy  shall  happen  in 
the  board  of  directors,  such  vacancy  shall  be  filled  for  the  remainder  of 
the  year  by  the  remaining  directors ;  the  directors  shall  hold  their  office 
for  one  year  and  until  others  are  elected  in  their  places;  no  person  shall 
be  a  director  unless  he  is  a  stockholder  in  the  company,  and  no  stock- 
holder shall  be  permitted  to  vote  at  an  election  for  directors,  on  any 
stock  except  such  as  he  has  owned  for  the  thirty  days  next  previous  to 
the  election. 

39.  The  directors  of  any  company  incorporated  under  this  act,  may 
require  payment  of  the  same  subscribed  to  the  capital  stock,  at  such 
times  and  in  such  proportions,  and  on  such  conditions  as  they  shall  see 
fit,  under  the  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  their  stock,  and  all  previous 
payments  thereon ;  and  they  shall  give  notice  of  the  payments  thus  re- 
quired, and  of  the  place  and  time,  when  and  where  the  same  are  to  be 
made,  at  least  thiny  days  previous  to  the  payment  of  the  ,same,  in  one 
newspaper  printed  in  each  county,  in  or  through  which  their  road  is  lo- 
cated, or  by  sending  such  notice  to  such  stockholder  by  mail,  directed  to 
him  at  his  usual  place  of  residence. 

40.  The  shares  of  any  company  formed  under  this  act,  shall  be  deem- 
ed personal  property,  and  may  be  transferred  as  shall  be  prescribed  by 
the  by-laws  of  such  company ;  the  directors  of  every  such  company, 
may,  at  any  time,  with  the  consent  of  a  majority,  in  amount,  of  the 
stockholders  in  such  company  as  may  be  necessary  to  finish  the  making 
of  a  road  actually  commenced  and  partly  constructed,  but  the  whole 
capital  stock  of  any  company,  shall  not  exceed  five  thousand  dollars  per 
mile,  for  each  mile  of  road. 

41.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  directors  of  every  company  formed  un- 
der this  act,  to  report  annually,  to  the  secretary  of  state,  under  the  oath 
of  any  two  of  such  directors,  the  cost  of  their  road,  the  amount  of  all 


1C9 

money  expended,  the  amount  of  their  capital  stock,  and  how  much  paid 
in,  and  how  much  actually  expended;  the  whole  amount  of  tolls  or 
earnings  expended  on  such  road ;  the  amount  received  during  the  year, 
lor  tolls,  and  from  all  other  sources,  stating  each  separately,  the  amount 
of  dividends  made,  and  the  amount  set  apart  for  a  reparation  fund,  and 
the  amount  of  indebtedness  of  such  company,  specifying  the  object  lor 
which  the  indebtedness  accrued. 

42.  Within  two  weeks  after  the  formation  of  any  company,  by  virtue 
of  this  act,  the  directors  thereof  shall  designate  some  place  within  a 
county  in  which,  according  to  the  articles  of  association  of  such  com- 
pany, its  roads,  or  some  part  thereof,  is  to  be  constructed,  as  the  office  of 
such  company ;  and  shall  give  public  notice  thereof,  by  publishing  the 
same  in  a  public  newspaper,  published  in  such  county,  which  publica- 
tion shall  be  continued  once  in  each  week,  for  three  successive  weeks, 
and  shall  file  a  copy  of  such  notice  in  the  office  of  die  county  clerk  of 
every  county,  in  which  any  part  of  such  road  is  constructed  or  is  to  be 
constructed.    And  if  the  place  of  such  office  shall  be  changed,  like  no- 
tice of  such  change  shall  be  published  and  filed  as  aforesaid,  before  it 
shall  take  place,  in  which  notice,  the  time  of  making  the  change  shall 
be  specified.    And  every  notice,  summons,  declaration  or  other  paper 
required  by  law  to  be  served  on  such  Company,  may  be  served  by  leav- 
ing the  same  at  such  office  with  any  person  having  charge  thereof,  at 
any  time  between  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  and  noon,  and  between 
two  and  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  of  any  day  except  Sunday. 

43.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  directors  of  any  such  company,  to  cause 
a  book  to  be  kept  by  the  secretary,  treasurer  or  clerk  thereof,  containing 
the  names  of  all  persons  alphabetically  arranged,  who  are,  or  shall, 
within  six  years,  have  been,  stockholders  of  such  company,  and  showing 
their  places  of  residence,  the  number  of  shares  of  the  stock  held  by  them 
respectively,  and  the  time  when  they  respectively  become  the  holders  of 
such  shares ;  which  book  shall,  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  until 
noon,  and  from  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  until  five,  on  every  day  ex- 
cept Sunday  and  the  fourth  day  of  July,  be  open  for  the  inspection  of  all 
persons  who  may  desire  to  examine  the  same,  at  the  office  of  such  com- 
pany, and  any  and  every  person,  shall  have  the  right  to  make  extracts 
from  such  book,  and  no  transfer  of  stock  shall  be  valid  for  any  purpose 
whatever,  except  to  render  the  person  to  whom  it  shall  be  transferred, 
1  able  for  the  debts  of  the  company,  according  to  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  until  it  shall  have  been  entered  therein,  as  required  by  this  section, 
by  an  entry  showing  to  and  from  whom  transferred.    Such  book  shall 
be  presumptive  evidence  of  the  facts  therein  stated,  in  favor  of  the 
plaintiff  in  any  suit  or  proceeding  against  such  company  or  against 
any  one  or  more  stockholders,  or  against  such  company  and  one  or  more 


110 

stockholders  jointly.  Every  officer  or  agent  of  any  such  company,  who 
shall  neglect  to  make  any  proper  entry  in  such  book,  or  shall  refuse  or 
neglect  to  exhibit  the  same,  or  allow  the  same  to  be  inspected  and  ex- 
tracts to  be  taken  therefrom,  as  provided  by  this  section,  shall  be  deemed 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  the  company  shall  forfeit  and  pay  to  the 
party  injured,  a  penally  of  fifty  dollars  for  every  such  neglect  or  refusal, 
and  all  the  damages  resulting  therefrom.  And  every  company  that  shall 
neglect  to  keep  such  a  book  opsn  for  inspection  as  aforesaid,  shall  for- 
feit to  the  people  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars  for  every  day  itshall  so  neglect, 
to  be  sued  for  and  recovered  in  the  name  of  the  people,  by  the  district 
attorney  of  any  county  in  or  through  which  the  road  of  such  company 
shall  be  constructed,  or  shall  be,  according  to  its  articles  of  association 
intended  to  be  constructed,  and  when  so  recovered,  the  amount  shall  be 
paid  in  equal  portions  to  every  such  county  for  the  use  thereof. 

44.  The  stockholders  of  every  company  incorporated  under  this  act, 
shall  be  liable  in  their  individual  capacity  for  the  payment  of  the  debts 
of  such  company,  for  an  amount  equal  to  the  amount  of  the  stock  they 
have  severally  subscribed  or  held  in  said  company  over  and  above 
such  stock,  to  be  recovered  of  the  stockholder  who  is  rach,  when  the 
debt  is  contracted,  or  of  any  subsequent  stockholder,  and  any  stockhold- 
er who  may  have  paid  any  demand  against  such  company,  either  volun- 
tarily or  by  compulsion,  shall  have  a  right  to  resort  to  the  rest  of  the 
stockholders  who  were  liable  to  contribution ;  and  the  dissolution  of  any 
company  shall  not  release  or  affect  the  liability  of  any  stockholder 
which  may  have  been  incurred  bsfore  such  dissolution. 

45.  The  debts  and  liabilities  of  any  company  formed  under  this  act, 
shall  not  exceed  in  amount,  at  any  one  time,  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
amount  of  its  capital,  actually  paid  in,  and  if  such  debts  and  liabilities 
shall  at  any  time  exceed  such  amount,  the  stockholders  who  were  such, 
at  the  time  any  excess  of  debts  or  liabilities  shall  be  created  or  incurred, 
shall  be  jointly  and  severally,  individually  liable  for  such  excess,  in  ad- 
dition to  their  other  individual  liability,  as  provided  in  this  act. 

46.  In  any  action  against  any  company  formed  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  the  plaintiff  may  include  as  defendants,  any  one  or  more  of  the 
stockholders  of  such  company,  who  shall  by  virtue  of  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  be  claimed  to  be  liable  to  contribute  to  the  payment  of  the 
plaintifPs  claim ;  and  if  judgment  be  given  against  such  company,  in 
favor  of  the  plaintiff  for  his  claim  or  any  part  thereof  and  any  one  or 
more  of  the  stockholders  so  made  defendants,  shall  be  found  to  be  liable 
as  aforesaid,  judgment  shall  also  be  given  against  him  or  them,  and 
shall  show  the  extent  of  his  or  their  liabilities  individually.    The  ex- 
ecution upon  such  judgment  shall  direct  the  collection  of  the  sum  for 
which  it  may  be  issued,  of  the  property  oi  such  company  liable  to  be 


Ill 

levied  upon  by  virtue  thereof;  and  in  case  such  property  sufficient  to 
satisfy  the  same,  cannot  be  found  in  the  county  of  the  officer  to  whom 
the  same  shall  be  directed,  that  the  deficiency,  or  so  much  thereof  as  the 
stockholders  who  shall  be  defendants  in  such  judgment  shall  be  liable 
to  pay,  shall  be  collected  of  the  property  of  such  stockholders  respective- 
ly. And  if  in  any  such  action,  any  one  or  more  of  such  stockholders 
shall  be  found  not  to  be  liable  for  the  demand  of  the  plaintiff  or  any  part 
thereof,  judgment  shall  be  given  for  the  stockholders  so  found  not  to  be 
liable;  but  no  verdict  or  judgment  in  favor  of  any  such  stockholder,  shall 
prevent  the  plaintiff  in  such  action  from  proceeding  therein  against  the 
company  alone,  or  against  it,  and  such  defendants  who  are  stockholders 
as  shall  be  liable  for  such  demand  or  some  portion  thereof.  Suits  may 
be  brought  against  one  or  more  stockholders  who  are  claimed  to  be  li- 
able for  any  debt  owing  by  the  company,  or  any  part  of  such  debt, 
without  joining  the  company  in  such  suit ;  but  no  such  suit  shall  be  so 
brought,  until  judgment  on  the  demand  shall  have  been  obtained  against 
the  company  and  execution  thereon  returned  unsatisfied  in  whole  or  in 
part,  or  the  company  shall  have  been  dissolved ;  but  it  shall  not  be  ne- 
cessary that  such  dissolution  shall  have  been  declared  by  any  judicial 
decree,  sentence  or  determination ;  and  in  such  suit  there  may  be  a  ver- 
dict and  judgment  in  favor  of  any  defendant  not  liable  as  aforesaid ;  but 
such  verdict  and  judgment  shall  not  prevent  the  plaintiff  in  such  suit 
from  proceeding  therein  against  any  such  defendant  who  shall  be  liable 
as  aforesaid. 

47.  Sections  seven,  eight,  nine,  eleven,  twelve,  thirteen,  fourteen,  six- 
teen, twenty-one,  twenty-two,  twenty-three,  twenty-four,  thirty,  thirty- 
five,  thirty-six,  forty-one,  forty-two,  forty-four,  forty -five,  forty-six,  forty- 
seven,  forty-eight,  forty-nine,  fitly,  fifty-one  and  fifty-two  of  the  first 
title  of  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  [third*]  part  of  the  Revised  Sta- 
tute.3,  shall  apply  to  ths  companies  organized  by  virtue  of  this  act,  and 
all  inspectors  and  other  officers  named  therein  and  to  all  the  officers  and 
roads  of  such  companies,  so  far  as  the  same  can  be  so  applied  and  arc 
consistent  with  this  act. 

43.  So  much  of  any  such  road  and  of  the  toll-houses,  gates  and  other 
appurtenances  thereof  constructed  by  virtue  of  this  act,  as  shall  be  within 
any  town,  city  or  village  shall  be  liable  to  taxation  in  such  town,  city  or 
village  as  real  estate. 

49.  Every  company  incorporated  under  this  act  shall  cease  to  be  a 
body  incorporate : 

1.  If  within  two  y?ars  from  th3  filing  of  their  articles  of  association, 

*  Amended  by  chap.  237  of  laws  of  1847,  so  as  to  read  "  FIRST"  instead  of 
•'THIRD,"  and  the  only  eflfsct  of  cliap.  2b7,  is  to  correct  this  orror. 


112 

they  shall  not  have  commenced  the  construction  of  their  road,  and  ac- 
tually expended  thereon  at  least  ten  per  cent,  of  the  capital  stock  of  such 
company,  and 

2.  It  within  five  years  from  such  filing  of  the  articles  of  association, 
such  road  shall  not  be  completed  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  act- 

50.  All  companies  formed  under  this  act  shall  at  all  times  be  subject 
to  visitation  and  examination  by  the  legislature  or  by  ,a  committee  ap- 
pointed by  either  house  thereof,  or  by  any  agent  or  officer  in  pursuance 
of  law;  and  the  courts  of  this  state  shall  have  the  same  jurisdiction 
over  such  corporations  and  their  officers  as  those  created  by  special  act.c. 

51.  The  legislature  may  at  any  time  alter,  amend  or  repeal  this  act,  or 
may  annul  or  repeal  any  corporation  formed  or  created  under  this  act. 

52.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

CHAPTER  398— LAWS  OF  1847. 
AN  ACT  in  relation  to  Plank  Road  and  Turnpike  Companies. 

The  People  of  tfie  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  As- 
sembly, do  enact  as  follows : 

1.  Any  company  formed  under  the  provisions  of  chapter  210  of  the 
laws  of  1847,  entitled  "  An  act  to  provide  for  the  incorporation  of  com- 
panies to  construct  plank  roads  and  companies  to  construct  turnpike 
roads,"  may  procure  by  purchase  or  gift  from  the  owners  thereof,  any 
lands  necessary  for  the  construction  of  so  much  of  its  contemplated  rof.d 
as  shall  be  intended  to  be  constructed  in  any  county.    And  may  also 
procure  by  agreement  from  the  officers  named  in  the  26th  section  of  the 
said  chapter,  the  right  to  take  and  use  any  part  of  any  public  highway 
necessary  for  the  construction  of  so  much  of  said  road  as  shall  be  in- 
tended to  be  constructed  in  such  county;  and  when  any  such  company 
shall  have  so  procured  all  the  lands  necessary  to  be  used  for  the  con- 
struction of  its  road  in  such  county,  and  the  right  to  take  and  use  such 
parts  of  the  public  highways  as  shall  be  necessary  for  that  purpose,  such 
company  may  construct  so  much  of  its  road  as  shall  be  intended  10  be 
constructed  in  such  county,  without  making  the  application  mentioned 
in  the  fourth  section  of  the  said  chapter. 

2.  Before  proceeding  to  construct  such  part  of  its  road  as  provided  in 
the  first  section  of  this  act,  such  company  shall  cause  an  accurate  survey 
of  such  part  to  be  made  by  a  practical  surveyor,  signed  by  its  president 
and  secretary,  acknowledged  bv  them  as  conveyances  of  real  estate  are 
required  to  bi-  acknowledged  in  order  to  be  recorded,  and  recorded  in  the 
clerk's  office  of  such  county ;  and  it  shall  also,  before  proceeding  to  con- 
struct such  part  of  its  road,  procure  in  manner  provided  by  the  said 
chapter,  from  the  board  of  Supervisors  of  every  other  county,  if  any 
there  be,  in  which  any  portion  of  it  is  intended  to  be  constructed,  author- 


113 

ity  to  construct  the  same  through  such  other  county ;  but  in  such  case, 
the  commissioners  appointed  to  survey  and  lay  out  the  road  of  such 
company,  shall  not  be  required  to  survey  and  lay  out  that  portion  of  it 
intended  to  be  constructed  within  the  county,  in  which  such  company 
shall  procure  the  lands,  and  the  right  to  take  and  use  the  public  high- 
ways necessary  for  its  construction  as  aforesaid. 

3.  When  any  such  company,  by  virtue  of  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
shall  have  procured  the  lands  and  the  right  to  take  and  use  the  parts  of 
any  public  highways  necessary  to  construct  its  road  in  any  county,  and 
shall  have  constructed  the  same  without  making  the  application  men- 
tioned in  the  fourth  section  of  the  said  chapter,  it  shall  possess  the  same 
rights,  powers  and  privileges  and  be  subject  to  the  same  duties  and 
liabilities  in  respect  to  its  road  and  to  the  part  thereof  so  constructed,  as 
if  such  application  had  been  made  and  all  the  proceedings  of  such  com- 
pany had  been  had  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  the  said  chapter. 

4.  Nothing  in  this  act  contained,  shall  be  deemed  or  construed  to  au- 
thorize the  laying  out  or  constructing  of  any  road  in  the  cases  specified 
in  section  nine  of  chapter  210  of  the  laws  of  1847,  nor  to  authorize  the 
bridging  or  obstructing  of  any  stream  navigable  by  vessels  or  steam- 
boats. 

CHAPTER  360— LAWS  OF  1848. 

AI>r  ACT  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  act  to  provide  for  the  incorpo- 
ration of  companies  to  construct  plank  roads,  and  companies  to  con- 
struct turnpike  roads,"  passed  May  7th,  1847. 

Passed  April  12th,  1848. 

The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York  represented  in  Senate  and  Afscm- 
5,'y,  do  enact  as  follows  : 

1.  The  commissioners  appointed  by  the  board  of  supervisors,  as  pro- 
vided in  the  eighth  section  of  the  act  to  provide  for  the  incorporation  of 
companies  to  construct  plank  roads,  and  of  companies  to  construct  turn- 
pike roads,  passed  May  7th,  1847,  are  hereby  authorised  in  laying  out  a 
plank  road  to  determine  the  distance  that  the  outer  limits  of  the  road 
shall  be  apart,  as  they  may  judge  necessary,  provided,  in  no  case  shall 
the  company  take  morn  than  four  rods  in  width,  except  by  the  voluntary 
sale  of  the  same  to  the  company. 

2.  Any  company  formed  under  this  saii  act,  may  take  half  the  rates 
of  tolls,  and  no  more,  provided  for  in  said  act,  from  persons  living  with- 
in one  mile  of  the  gate  at  which  it  is  taken ;  but  no  tolls  shall  be  taken 
from  fermers  going  to  and  from  their  work  on  their  farms. 


114 

CHAPTER  250-LAW3  OF  1849. 

AN  ACT  in  relation  to  plank  roads  and  turnpike  roads. 

Passed  April  6,  1849. 

The  People  of  Ilis  State  rf  New  York  represented  in  Senate  and  Assem- 
bly do  enact  as  follows  : 

SECTION  1.  The  directors  of  any  plank  road  company  formed  under  the 
act  passed  May  7,  1849,  entitled  "  an  act  to  provide  for  the  incorporation 
of  companies  to  construct  plank  roads,  and  for  companies  to  construct 
turnpike  roads,"  may  with  the  written  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  in- 
spectors, whose  appointment  is  provided  for  in  the  23u*  section  of  said 
act,  construct  branches  to  their  main  line  of  road,  or  extend  their  main 
line,  or  change  the  rout  of  their  road,  or  any  part  thereof,  which  branches 
or  extensions  shall  in  all  respects  be  governed  by  the  same  rules  and 
affccted  by  the  same  laws  as  the  main  line  of  road,  and  the  said  direc- 
tors may  increase  the  capital  stcck  of  the  company  to  an  amount  not 
exceeding  two  thousand  dollars  a  mile  of  such  branches  or  extensions 
for  their  construction,  and  distribute  the  certificates  therefor  among  the 
stockholders  of  the  company  in  proportion  to  the  stock  owned  by  them 
severally,  if  such  stockholders  shall  demand  and  pay  up  the  same ;  and 
in  case  the  new  stock,  after  the  directors  have  given  public  notice  in 
some  newspaper  printed  in  every  county  in  which  their  road  is  situated, 
for  six  successive  weeks,  is  not  demanded  and  paid  by  the  stockholders, 
they  may  permit  any  person  or  persons  to  subscribe  and  pay  on  the  new 
stock  the  same  per  centage  that  had  been  paid  on  the  original  stock  of 
the  company,  and  the  same  shall  in  all  respects  be  held  and  considered 
as  though  it  had  formed  a  part  of  the  original  stock  of  tiie  company. 
The  right  of  way  for  any  such  branches  or  extensions  shall  be  acquired 
by  the  company  in  the  same  manner  as  is  now  provided  by  law  for  plank 
road  companies  to  acquire  the  right  of  way  for  their  roads. 

2.  The  following  persons  and  no  others,  shall  be  exempt  from  the  pay- 
ment of  tolls  at  the  gates  of  the  several  plank  road  companies,  formed 
under  the  before  mentioned  act : 

NOTE. — By  chap.  230,  laws  of  1849,  section  7,  the  inspectors  of  plank  roads 
are  authorized  to  determine  the  outer  limits  of  plank  roads,  in  the  cases 
where  the  commissioners  have  not  done  so.  In  all  ths  cases  of  companies 
purchasing  the  right  of  way,  either  from  individuals  or  from  supervisors  and 
commissioners  of  highways  of  towns,  as  provided  for  by  chap.  398— laws 
of  1847 — it  is  not  necessary  to  have  commissioners  appointed  by  the  board 
of  supervisors  to  lay  out  the  roads  ;  but  inspectors  must  certify  the  road  to 
be  properly  made,  before  tolls  can  be  taken  ;  they  cau  determine  the  width 
ot  that  time  or  any  time  thereafter. 

*  This  reference  to  the  23d  section  should  be  the  33d  section.  The  error 
was  probably  made  in  writing  out  the  bill  by  the  clerk.  The  seventh  sec- 
tion of  tiiis  act  makes  the  reference  to  the  33d  section,  as  it  should  be. 


115 

1.  Persons  going  to  or  from  any  court  to  whi:h  they  have  been  sum- 
moned as  jurors;  or  to  which  they  have  been  subpoenaed  as  witnesses. 

2.  Persons  going  to  or  from  any  training  at  which  they  are  by  law  re- 
quired to  attend. 

3.  Persons  going  to  or  from  religious  meetings. 

4.  All  persons  going  to  or  from  any  funeral,  and  all  funeral  proces- 
sions. 

5.  Persons  living  within  one  mile  of  any  gate,  shall  be  permitted  to 
pass  the  same  at  one-half  the  usual  rates  of  toll,  excepting  farmers  go- 
ing to  or  returning  from  their  work  on  their  farms,  who  shall  go  free, 
when  not  employed  in  the  transportation  of  persons  or  property  of  other 
parsons. 

6.  Troops  in  the  actual  service  of  this  state  or  of  the  United  States. 

7.  Persons  going  to  any  town  meeting  or  election,  at  which  they  are 
entitled  to  vote,  for  the  purpose  of  voting  and  returning  therefrom. 

3.  Any  person  falsely  representing  him  or  herself  to  any  toll  gatherer, 
as  baing  entitled  to  any  of  tiie   exemptions   mentioned  in  the  pre- 
ceding section  of  this  act,  shall  forfeit  to  the  company,  to  be  recover- 
ed in  the  corporate  name  of  the  company,  in  any  justice's  court,  the  sum 
of  ten  dollars. 

4.  Whenever  any  plank  road  company  formed  under  the  before  men- 
tioned act,  shall  have  finished  their  road,  or  any  three  consecutive  miles 
thereof,  and  had  the  same  inspected  as  provided  in  the  before  mentioned 
act,  it  shall  be  lawful  to  erect  a  toll  gate  thereon,  and  exact  tolls  thereatj 
for  a  term  not  exceeding  one  year,  unless  such  road,  or  five  consecutive 
miles  thereof,  be  completed  within  such  year. 

5.  Sections  fifty-four,  fifty-five  and  fifty -six  of  part  first,  title  first, 
chapter  eighteen  of  the  Revised  Statutes  shall  apply  to  all  companies 
formed  under  the  before  mentioned  act,  passed  May  7,  1847,  so  far  a§ 
die  same  can  be  applied,  and  are  not  inconsistent  with  this  act. 

6.  So  much  of  section  thirty-five  of  the  aforesaid  act,  passed  May  7, 
1847,  as  provides  that  "  in  no  case  shall  any  plank  road  company  charga 
or  receive  rates  of  toll  which  will  enable  said  company  to  divide  moce, 
nor  shall  any  company  divide  more  than  ten  per  cent,  per  annum  on 
their  capital  stock  actually  paid  in  and  invested  in  their  road,  after  keep- 
ing the  road  in  repair,  and  appropriating  not  exceeding  ten  per  cent,  per 
annum  on  their  capital  stock  invested  as  aforesaid,  as  a  fund  for  the  re- 
construction of  their  road  when  necessary,  is  hereby  repealed. 

7.  The  inspectors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  whose  appointment  is  pro- 
vided for  by  the  thirty-third  section  of  the  said  act,  passed  May  7,  1847, 
are  hereby  authorised  to  determine  the  distance  that  the  outer  limits 
shall  be  apart,  of  any  plank  road  or  any  turnpike  road,  belonging  to  any 
company  formed  under  said  act,  in  case  the  same  has  not  been  deter- 


116 

mined  by  the  commissioners  appointed  under  the  eighth  section  of  said 
net:  provided,  that  in  no  case  shall  the  company  take  more  than  four 
rods  in  width,  except  by  the  voluntary  sale  of  the  same  to  the  company. 

8.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  any  two  or  more  companies,  formed  under  the 
provisions  of  the  aforesaid  act  of  1847,  to  consolidate  the  respective  com- 
panies, on  such  terms  as  the  persons  owning  two-thirds  of  the  stock  of 
each  of  said  companiss  may  agree  upon;  and  such  company,  consoli- 
dated as  aforesaid,  may  change  the  name  of  their  rpad,  on  filing  in  the 
office  of  the  secretary  of  state,  a  certificate  containing  the  names  of  the 
roads  so  consolidated  and  the  name  by  which  such  road  shall  thereafter 

,  be  known. 

9.  Any  person  who  shall  pass  any  plank  road  gate,  or  turnpike  gate, 
without  paving  the  toll,  and  with  the  intent  to  avoid  the  payment  of  the 
same,  by  which  a  penalty  accrues,  or  any  person  committing  any  depre- 
dation or  trespass  on  any  plank  road  or  turnpike,  may  be  sued  for  said 
penalty  or  trespass  in  the  county  where  such  offence  or  trespass  was 
committed,  or  in  the  county  where  such  person  may  reside. 

10.  Whenever  a  complaint  shall  be  made  to  the  inspector  or  inspectors 
of  any  plank  road  or  turnpike  in  this  state,  before  such  inspector  or  in- 
spectors shall  act  upon  such  complaint,  he  or  they  shall  receive  from  the 
complainant  the  fees  provided  by  law ;  and  in  case  it  shall  appear,  upon 
examination  of  the  road,  that  the  complaint  was  well  founded,  the 
amount  of  said  fees  shall  bo  paid  to  the  complainant  by  the  company. 
In  case  it  is  determined  that  the  complaint  was  not  well  founded,  the 
complainant  shall  not  be  entitled  to  receive  back  the  fees  so  paid  by 
him. 

11.  Whenever  any  plank  road  or  turnpike  road  shall  be  built  in  pur- 
suance of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  or  the  act  hereby  amended,  upon 
the  site  of  an  old  highway,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  commissioners  of 
the  highways  of  the  town  where  such  road  shall  be  made,  to  designate 
some  district  or  districts  within  their  town,  on  which  the  highway  labor 
of  the  inhabitants  residing  along  the  line  of  said  plank  or  turnpike  shall 
be  performed. 

13.  It  slnll  bo  lawful  for  the  inhabitants  residing  in  any  road  district 
in  this  state,  to  grade,  gravel  or  plank  the  road  or  roads  in  such  district, 
by  anticipating  the  highway  labor  of  such  road  district  for  one  or  more 
years  and  applying  it  to  the  immediate  construction  of  such  plank  or 
gravel  road,  and  after  the  completion  of  such  plank  or  gravel  road,  the 
said  inhabitants  shall  be  exempted  from  the  labor  so  anticipated  and  ap- 
plied, except  so  far  as  their  labor  may  be  necessary  to  keep  their  said 
road  or  roads  in  repair :  such  road  to  be  in  all  cases  a  i'ree  road. 

13.  Section  first  of  chapter  201,  of  the  laws  of  1847,  is  amended  by 
striking  out  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  lines,  the  words,  "  and  five  per 
cent,  paid  thereon  as  hereinafter  required." 


INDIANA  PLANK  ROAD  ACT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

AN  ACT  authorising  the  construciion  of  Plank  Roads. 

Passed  January  15,  1S49. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  llis  Stale  of  In- 
diana, That  any  number  of  persons  may  form  themselves  into  a  corpo- 
ration for  the  purpose  of  constructing  and  owning  a  plank  road  by  com- 
plying with  the  following  requirements :  They  shall  unite  in  articles  of 
association  setting  forth  the  name  which  they  assume — the  line  of  the 
route  and  the  places  to  and  from  which  it  is  proposed  to  construct  the 
road — the  amount  of  capital  stock  and  the  number  of  shares  into  which 
it  is  to  be  divided.  The  names  and  places  of  residence  of  the  subscri- 
bers and  the  amount  of  stock  taken  by  each  shall  be  subscribed  to  said 
articles  of  association.  Whenever  the  stock  subscribed  amounts  to 
fifteen  him J red  dollars  per  mile  of  the  proposed  road,  copies  of  the  arti- 
cles of  association  shall  be  filed  in  the  ollice  of  the  recorder  of  each 
county  through  which  the  road  is  to  pass. 

SEC.  2.  Not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  seven  directors  shall  be 
elected  by  the  stockholders  of  eveiy  such  corporation,  who  shall  hold 
their  offices  for  one  year  and  until  their  successors  are  in  like  manner 
elected.  Notice  of  the  first  election  for  directors  shall  be  given  by  two 
weekly  publications  in  some  newspaper  printed  on  or  near  the  route  of 
the  road. 

SEC.  3.  The  directors  may  determine  the  particular  manner  of  con- 
struction so  as  to  secure  and  maintain  a  smooth  and  permanent  road, 
the  track  of  which  shall  be  made  of  plank,  or  timber  or  other  hard  ma- 
terial so  that  the  same  shall  form  a  hard  and  even  surface. 

SEC.  4.  The  directors  of  said  company  shall  proceed  to  locate  and 
lay  out  said  road,  and  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  County 
Commissioners  of  the  county,  locate  the  same  over  and  upon  any  state 
or  county  road  or  other  public  highway,  and  thereupon  such  state  or 
county  road  or  other  public  highway,  or  such  portion  thereof  as  may  be 
so  occupied  and  appropriated  by  said  company,  shall  be  and  become  the 


118 

property  of  said  company  for  the  purpose  of  making  and  maintaining 
said  road  and  the  gates  and  toll  houses  therecn ;  and  the  Boards  of  Coun- 
ty Commissioners  of  the  several  counties  of  this  state  are  hereby  author- 
ized to  give  their  consent  to  the  appropriation  and  occupation  of  any 
such  state  or  county  road  or  other  public  highway,  over  and  upon  which 
any  such  company  may  locate  any  such  road. 

SEC.  5.  Any  such  company  may  take  releases  and  conveyances  of 
the  necessary  lands  of  any  and  all  persons  over  whose  lands  the  road 
may  be  located,  and  any  such  releases  Or  conveyance  may  be  made  and 
executed  by  any  infant,  feme  covert,  guardian,  executor  or  administra- 
tor, and  shall  be  valid  and  effectual  in  law,  by  obtaining  the  consent  of 
the  proper  probate  court  thereto. 

SEC.  6.  For  the  purpose  of  locating  and  constructing  said  road,  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  such  company,  by  their  agents  or  persons  in  their  em- 
ploy, to  enter  upon  any  lands  to  make  surveys  and  estimates,  and  to 
take  from  the  land  occupied  by  said  road  any  stone,  gravel,  timber,  or 
other  materials  necessary  to  construct  said  road  and  the  bridges  thereon. 

Src.  7.  If  any  porson  owning  lands  over  and  upon  which  such  road 
shall  be  located  shall  refuse  to  relinquish  the  tame  for  the  use  ol"  said 
road,  and  no  satisfactory  contract  can  be  made  by  such  company  with 
such  owner  therefor,  it  shall  be  lawful  tor  such  company  to  give  notice 
to  some  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  proper  county,  and  such  justice  shall 
thereupon  summon  the  owner  of  such  land,  if  a  resident  of  the  county, 
to  appear  before  him  on  a  day  to  be  named  therein,  and  within  ten  days 
thereafter,  and  if  the  parties  cannot  then  agree,  said  justice  shall  issue  a 
venire  for  summoning  before  him  a  jury  of  three  disinterested  men  of 
the  county,  to  be  selected  by  said  justice,  and  such  jury,  after  having' 
taken  an  oath  or  affirmation  faithfully  and  impartially  to  assess  the 
damages,  if  any,  shall  view  the  lands  upon  which  such  damages  are 
claimed,  and  shall  determine  the  same,  duly  considering  the  advantages 
of  said  road  to  said  owner,  and  shall  make  report  thereof  to  said  justice, 
whereupon  he  shall  enter  judgment  upon  such  report,  from  which  judg- 
ment [either  party]  may  appeal  to  the  circuit  court. 

SEC.  8.  If  the  owner  be  a  minor,  insane  person,  or  shall  reside  out  oi 
the  county  where  such  land  may  be,  such  justice  shall  cause  three  no- 
tices to  be  put  up  within  the  township  where  such  lands  are  situated,  ol 
the  time  and  place  of  summoning  such  jury  to  make  such  appraisements, 
and  if  no  person  appears  for  such  minor,  insane  person,  or  non-residen 
of  the  county,  such  justice  shall  appoint  some  disinterested  person  to  aci 
on  behalf  of  such  absentee,  and  shall  then  proceed  as  in  other  cases,  am 
in  all  cases  costs  shall  be  awarded  in  the  discretion  of  the  jury. 

SEC.  9.  In  case  such  company  shall  require  for  the  use  of  said  roae 
any  stone,  gravel,  or  other  material,  from  the  land  of  any  person  adjoin 


119 

ing  on  or  near  said  road,  and  such  company  cannot  contract  for  the  same 
with  the  owner  thereof,  such  company  may  proceed  in  like  manner  to 
have  die  value  of  such  materials  assessed,  as  is  above  provided  for  as- 
sessing the  value  of  lands ;  and  in  every  such  case  of  lands  and  mate- 
rials such  company  may  take  possession  of  and  use  the  same,  immediate- 
ly after  having  paid  such  justice,  for  the  use  of  the  owner  of  such  land  or 
materials,  the  sum,  if  any,  which  may  have  been  assessed  therefor ; 
Provided,  that  such  jury,  in  assessing  such  damages,  shall  not  take  into 
consideration  the  advantages  of  the  road  to  the  owners  of  such  ma- 
terials. 

SEC.  10.  If  any  such  road,  after  its  completion,  or  any  part  thereof, 
shall  be  suffered  to  be  out  of  repair  so  as  to  be  impassable  for  the  space 
of  one  year,  unless  when  the  same  ia  repairing,  said  company  shall  be 
liable  to  be  proceeded  against  by  quo  warranto ;  and  if  such  company 
shall  suffer  the  road  to  be  out  of  repair  to  the  hindrance  or  delay  of  trav- 
ellers for  an  unreasonable  length  of  time,  they  shall  have  no  right  to 
collect  tolls  thereon  until  the  same  is  repaired. 

SEC.  11.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  directors  to  require  payment  from 
subscribers  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  sums  subscribed  by  them,  at  such 
times  and  in  such  proportions,  and  on  such  conditions  as  they  shall  see 
fit,  under  the  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  their  stock,  and  of  all  previous 
payments  thereon,  or  under  such  other  penalty  or  forfeiture  as  such  com- 
pany may  by  by-law  prescribe;  and  they  shall  give  notice  of  the  pay- 
ments thus  required,  and  of  the  time  ami  place  when  and  where,  at  least 
thirty  days  previous  to  the  time  when  such  payment  is  required  to  be 
made,  in  a  newspaper  printed  in  the  county,  or  some  one  of  the  coun- 
ties in  which  such  road  may  be  located,  or  if  no  newspaper  is  printed  in 
such  county,  then  by  posting  up  three  written  or  printed  notices  at  the 
most  conspicuous  places  near  where  the  road  is  proposed  to  be  located, 
and  at  the  court  house  of  said  county. 

SEC.  12.  The  shares  of  the  corporation  shall  be  deemed  personal  pro- 
perty, and  shall  be  transferable  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  by-laws ; 
and  any  person  becoming  a  shareholder  by  assignment  of  stock  shall 
succeed  to  all  the  rights  and  liabilities  of  his  assignor,  and  the  directors 
may  provide  for  any  increase  of  the  .capital  stock  that  they  may  deem 
advantageous  to  the  corporation;  Provided,  the  whole  stock  shall  not 
exceed  three  thousand  dollars  per  mile  of  the  road. 

SEC.  13  .  Whenever  five  consecutive  miles  of  such  road  shall  have 
been  completed,  or  if  the  whole  of  such  road  shall  be  less  than  five  miles 
in  length,  then,  in  such  case,  when  the  whole  of  such  road  shall  be  com- 
pleted, the  directors  of  such  company  may  erect  toll  gates  at  such  points 
and  at  such  distances  from  each  other  as  they  may  deem  proper,  and 
exact  toll  from  persona  traveling  on  the  road,  not  exceeding  the  follow- 
9 


120 

ing  rates :  for  every  sled,  sleigh,  carriage,  or  vehicle  drawn  by  one  ani- 
mal, one  and  one  half  cent  per  mile,  and  for  every  animal  in  addition 
thereto  one  half  cent  per  mile ;  for  every  horse  and  rider  or  led  horse 
one  cent  per  mile;  for  every  score  of  sheep  or  swine  two  cents  per  mile; 
and  for  every  score  of  neat  cattle,  mules  or  asses  five  cents  per  mile. 
Persons  going  to  and  from  funerals,  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States  or 
of  this  State,  while  in  actual  service,  shall  be  exempt  from  toll. 

SEC.  14.  Every  such  company  or  association  shall  cease  to  be  a  body- 
corporate,  if  within  two  years  from  the  time  of  filing  a  copy  of  Jieir 
articles  of  association  with  the  county  recorder  they  shall  not  have  com- 
menced the  construction  of  their  road,  and  expended  at  least  ten  per  cent, 
of  their  capital  stock,  and  if  within  four  years  from  such  time  such  road 
shall  not  be  completed ;  and  within  six  months  after  such  load  shall  have 
been  completed,  the  directors  shall  report  such  i'act,  together  with  the 
cost  of  its  construction,  to  the  secretary  of  state. 

SEC.  15.  Such  company  may  make,  enact,  and  publish  any  and  all 
ordinances  and  by-laws  which  they  may  deem  proper,  not  inconsistent 
with  the  laws  of  this  state,  in  order  to  regulate  the  travel  upon  such 
road,  and  the  rules  to  be  observed  by  persons  in  meeting  or  passing  with 
teams  and  vehicles,  and  all  other  matters  which  may  be  deemed  for  the 
welfare  of  such  company.  Any  person  violating  any  ordinance  or  by- 
law made  by  such  company  shall  forfeit  and  pay  to  such  company  the 
sum  of  live  dollars,  to  be  sued  for  and  collected  by  such  company,  in  an 
action  of  debt  before  any  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  county  where  the 
offender  may  be  found. 

SEC.  16.  If  any  toll  gatherer  or  gate  keeper  on  said  road  shall  unreas- 
onably detain  any  person  or  passenger,  after  the  toll  has  been  paid  or 
tendered,  or  shall  demand  or  receive  any  greater  toll  than  is  by  this  act 
allowed,  he  shall,  for  every  such  offence,  forfeit  and  pay  a  sum  not  ex- 
ceeding ten  dollars,  to  be  recovered  before  any  justice  of  the  peace  hav- 
ing jurisdiction,  by  the  party  aggrieved,  within  twenty  days  after  the 
occurrence. 

SEC.  17.  If  any  person  or  persons  using  any  part  of  such  road  shall, 
with  intent  to  defraud  such  company,  pass  through  any  private  gate  or 
bars,  or  along  any  other  ground  near  said  road,  to  avoid  any  toll  gate,  or 
shall  make  any  untrue  statement  as  to  the  distance  he  or  they  may  have 
traveled  or  intend  to  travel  on  the  road,  or  shall  practice  any  fraudulent 
means,  and  thereby  lessen  or  avoid  the  payment  of  tolls,  each  and  every 
person  concerned  in  such  fraudulent  practice  shall,  for  every  such  of- 
fence, forfeit  and  pay  to  such  company  the  sum  of  three  dollars,  which 
shall  be  recovered  in  the  name  of  such  company  in  an  action  of  debt 
before  any  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  county  where  the  offender  may  be 
found ;  Provided,  nothing  herein  contained  shall  prevent  persons  resid- 


121 

ing  on  or  near  the  line  of  said  road  from  passing  thereon  between  the 
gates,  about  their  premises,  for  common  and  ordinary  business. 

SEC.  18.  If  any  agent,  treasurer,  toll  gatherer,  or  other  person  to 
whose  possession  or  custody  any  of  the  moneys  of  such  company  may 
come  or  be,  shall  convert  any  of  said  moneys  to  his  own  use,  or  make 
way  with  the  same  in  any  way,  he  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  embezzle- 
ment, and  shall  be  punished  upon  indictment  found,  in  the  same  manner 
and  to  the  same  extent  as  if  he  had  stolen  the  amount  so  embezzled. 
The  neglect  or  refusal  of  any  such  person  to  pay  over  on  demand  to  such 
company  or  their  agent  any  moneys  in  his  custody  or  possession  belong- 
ing to  such  company  shall  be  deemed  prima  facia  evidence  that  he  has 
embezzled  the  same. 

SEC.  19.  Upon  execution  issued  upon  any  judgment  or  decree,  ren- 
dered either  in  favor  of  such  company  against  any  person  or  persons,  or 
in  favor  of  any  person  or  persons  against  such  company,  property  shall 
be  taken  and  sold  for  the  highest  and  best  price  it  may  bring,  and  with- 
out any  valuation  or  appraisement. 

SEC.  20.  Such  company  may  purchase  and  hold  lands  to  the  value  of 
not  exceeding  one-fifth  of  their  capital  stock,  over  and  above  such  lands 
as  may  be  necessary  in  the  location  and  construction  of  such  road. 

SEC.  21.  Associations  formed  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall, 
from  the  time  their  articles  are  filed  with  the  auditor  aforesaid,  be  corpo- 
rations known  by  the  name  they  may  assume  in  their  articles  of  associa- 
tion, and  except  as  in  this  act  is  otherwise  provided,  shall  possess  the 
general  powers  and  be  subject  to  the  general  restrictions  and  liabilities 
contained  in  the  second  article  of  chapter  thirty-two  of  the  Revised  Sta- 
tutes of  1843. 

SEC.  22.  The  Legislature  reserves  the  right  to  alter,  amend,  or  repeal 
this  act  when  it  shall  be  deemed  conducive  to  the  public  good. 

SEC.  23.  The  directors  of  any  company  that  may  be  formed  under 
the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  liable  in  their  individual  property  for 
any  debt  that  they  may  contract  in  the  name  of  any  company  as  afore- 
said, over  and  above  the  solvent  stock  of  any  company  formed  as 
aforesaid. 

SEC.  24.  This  act  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  be  a  public  act,  and 
shall  be  liberally  construed,  and  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from 
and  after  its  passage. 

CHAPTER  H. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  an  act  to  authorize  the  construc- 
tion of  plank  or  coal  roads,"  approved  16th  February,  1848. 

Approved,  January  10,  1849. 
SECTION  1.    Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Astembly  of  the  State  of  In- 


122 

diana,  That  the  act  entitled  "  an  act  to  authorize  the  construction  of 
plank  or  coal  roads,"  approved  16th  February,  1848,  be  and  the  same  i» 
hereby  amended  as  follows :  First.  Any  five  or  more  persons  may  vol- 
untarily associate  themselves  together  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  a 
turnpike  road ;  such  association  shall  have  power  to  construct  a  turn- 
pike, or  turnpike  and  plank  road,  as  they  may  at  that  time  deem  best, 
and  shall  possess  all  the  powers  and  capacities,  and  be  entitled  to  all  the 
privileges  and  immunities  specified  in  said  act,  and  shall  in  all  things  be 
governed  thereby,  except  as  may  be  otherwise  herein  provided.  Second. 
The  board  doing  county  business  in  any  county  where  it  may  be  desired 
to  construct  any  road  contemplated  in  this  act,  or  the  act  to  which  it  is 
amendatory,  is  hereby  authorized  to  permit  any  such  association  or  road 
company  to  construct  their  road  over,  upon  and  along  any  state  or  coun- 
ty road  in  said  county,  and  such  association  or  road  company  may  erect 
and  keep  up  toll  gates  thereon,  and  collect  tolls  in  the  manner  and  to  the 
extent  provided  in  the  act  aforesaid.  Third.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  for 
any  such  association  to  charge  or  receive  any  toll  unless  their  road  shall 
be  at  the  time  in  good  repair.  Fourth.  So  much  of  said  act  as  allows 
the  board  doing  county  business  to  fix  the  tolls  of  any  road  company, 
and  section  nine  (9)  of  the  act  entitled  "  an  act  to  authorize  the  forma- 
tion of  voluntary  associations,"  approved  27th  January,  1847,  BO  far  ae 
this  act,  or  the  act  to  which  it  is  amendatory  is  concerned,  or  any  asso- 
ciation formed  thereunder,  are  hereby  repealed.  Fifth.  The  books  of 
said  company  shall  be  prima  facia  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  state- 
ments therein,  and  any  member  thereof  shall  be  a  competent  witness  to 
identify  their  books. 

SEC.  2.  This  act,  and  the  act  to  which  it  is  amendatory,  are  hereby 
declared  to  br  public  acts,  and  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after  its  pas- 
sage. 

CHAPTER  III. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  act  authorizing  the  construc- 
tion of  plank  roads." 

Approved,  January  16,  1850. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  /»- 
diana,  That  the  first  and  fourteenth  (1  and  14)  sections  of  said  act  b* 
and  the  same  are  hereby  amended,  by  striking  out  the  word  "  Recorder^ 
where  the  same  occurs  in  each  section,  and  inserting  in  the  place  thereof 
the  word  "Auditor." 

SEC.  2.  This  act  to  be  in  force  and  take  effect  from  and  after  its  pas- 
sage. 


123 

CHAPTER  IV. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  an  act  authorizing  the  construction  of  plank  roads. 
Approved,  January  19,  1850. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  In- 
diana, That  when  any  company  has  been  formed  and  organized  in  pur- 
suance of  the  aforesaid  act,  the  said  company  is  hereby  authorized  and 
empowered  to  make  such  additions  to  the  road,  or  to  extend  the  same 
Beyond  the  original  limits  contamplated  by  the  company,  as  a  majority 
of  the  stockholders  shall  determine. 

SEC.  2.  That  the  seventh  section  of  the  above  recited  act  is  so  amend- 
ed that  in  case  the  owner  of  any  land  over  which  such  plank  road  be  lo- 
cated should  not  be  a  resident  of  the  county  in  which  such  land  may  be, 
the  company  may  summon  the  agent  or  the  owner  thereof,  and  the  same 
proceedings  may  be  had  against  him  as  against  the  owner,  and  the  same 
shall  be  equally  binding  upon  the  owner  and  upon  the  company. 

SEC.  3.    This  act  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after  its  passage. 

CHAPTER  V. 

AN  ACT  to  correct  a  mistake  in  the  act  relative  to  plank  roads. 
Approved,  January  19,  1850. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  In- 
diana, That  so  much  of  an  act  entitled  an  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled 
an  act  to  authorize  the  construction  of  plank  or  coal  roads,  approved 
Feb.  16th,  1848;  approved  January  10th,  1849;  as  repeals  or  modifies 
section  nine  oi  an  act  entitled  an  act  to  authorize  the  formation  of  vol- 
untary associations,  approved  27th  January,  1847,  is  hereby  declared  to 
be  a  mistake,  and  that  the  true  intention  and  meaning  thereof  was,  and 
is  to  repeal  section  eight,  and  not  section  nine,  to  the  extent  therein  spe- 
cified, and  said  section  eight  of  said  last  mentioned  act  is  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  repealed,  and  section  nine  of  said  act  is  hereby  declared  to 
be  in  full  force,  so  i'ar  as  the  same  or  either  of  them  relate  to  plank  or 
coal  road  companies. 

SEC.  2.  This  shall  be  a  public  act  and  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after 
its  passage. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  General  Plank  Road  law. 

Approved,  January  21,  1850. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  In- 
tliana,  That  the  first  section  of  an  act,  entitled  an  act,  authorizing  the 
construction  of  plank  roads,  approved  January  15,  1849,  be  so  amended 
as  to  read  as  follows :  That  any  number  of  persons  may  form  them- 


124 

selves  into  a  corporation  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  and  owning  a 
plank,  McAdamized,  or  gravel  road,  by  complying  with  the  following 
requirements :  They  shall  unite  in  articles  of  association  setting  forth 
the  name  which  they  assume,  the  line  of  the  route  and  the  places  to  and 
from  which  it  is  proposed  to  construct  the  road,  the  amount  of  capital 
stock,  and  the  number  of  shares  into  which  it  is  to  be  divided,  the  names 
and  places  of  residence  of  the  subscribers,  and  the  amount  of  stock 
taken  by  each  shall  be  contained  in  said  articles  of  association.  When- 
ever the  stock  subscribed  amounts  to  one  thousand  dollars  per  mile  of 
the  proposed  road,  copies  of  the  articles  of  association  shall  be  filed  in 
the  office  of  the  recorder  of  each  county  through  which  the  road  is  to 
pass. 
SEC.  2.  This  act  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after  its  passage. 


ILLINOIS  PLANK  ROAD  ACT. 


AN  ACT  to  provide  for  the  construction  of  plank  roads,  by  a  general 

law. 

In  force  April  13,  1849. 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  repre- 
sented in  the  General  Assembly,  Any  number  of  persons,  not  less  than 
live,  may  be  formed  into  a  corporation  for  the  construction  of  a  plank 
road,  by  complying  with  the  following  requisitions,  to-wit :  Notice  shall 
be  given  in  each  county  through  which  any  plank  road  is  intended  to  be 
constructed,  of  the  time  and  place  or  places  where  books  for  subscribing 
to  the  stock  of  such  road  will  be  opened,  by  publication  three  weeks 
consecutively  in  at  least  one  newspaper  [published]  in  said  county  or 
counties ;  or  if  there  be  no  newspaper  published  in  said  county,  by  post- 
ing up  printed  or  written  notices,  for  three  weeks,  on  the  door  of  the 
court-house,  and  on  the  door  of  the  post-office  nearest  each  terminus  of 
the  proposed  road.  When  stock  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  dollars' 
for  every  mile  of  the  road  intended  to  be  constructed  shall  be  subscribed- 
and  five  per  cent,  paid  thereon,  the  subscribers  may,  upon  due  and  pro- 
per notice,  elect  directors  for  the  said  company,  not  less  than  three  in 
number,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  until  others  are  elected.  The  stock- 
holders shall  severally  subscribe  articles  of  association,  in  which  shall 
be  set  forth  the  name  of  the  company,  the  number  of  years  that  it  is  to 
exLst,  which  shall  not  exceed  thirty  years  from  the  date  of  said  article; 
the  number  of  shares  of  which  the  said  stock  shall  consist ;  the  name? 
of  the  directors  first  elected ;  the  places  from  and  to  which  the  proposed 
road  is  to  be  constructed,  and  each  township,  town,  or  city,  through 
which  it  is  intended  to  pass,  and  its  length,  as  near  as  it  may  be ;  the 
name  of  each  subscriber,  and  his  place  of  residence,  and  the  number  of 
shares  of  stock  subscribed  by  him.  Upon  the  filing  of  said  articles  of 
association,  with  an  affidavit  of  at  least  three  directors  affixed  thereto, 
that  the  foregoing  requisitions  have  in  good  faith  been  complied  with,  in 
the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state,  the  subscribers  of  stock  as  aforesaid, 
and  all  persons  who  shall  from  time  to  time  become  stockholders  in  said 


126 

association,  shall  be  a  body  corporate,  and  shall  possess  and  exercise  all 
the  powers  and  privileges  of  bodies  corporate. 

2.  A  copy  of  any  articles  of  association  filed  in  pursuance  of  this  act, 
with  a  copy  of  the  affidavit,  certified  by  the  secretary  of  state,  shall  in 
all  courts  and  places  be  presumptive  evidence  of  the  incorporation  of 
said  company,  and  of  the  facts  therein  stated. 

3.  Within  two  weeks  after  the  formation  of  any  company  by  virtue  of" 
this  act,  the  directors  thereof  shaft  designate  some  place  within  a  coun- 
ty, in  which,  according  to  the  articles  of  association  of  such  company, 
its  road,  or  some  part  thereof,  is  to  be  constructed,  as  the  office  of  said 
company ;  and  shall  give  public  notice  thereof  by  publication  in  a  pub- 
lic newspaper,  published  in  such  county,  (if  there  be  a  newspaper  so 
published,)  for  three  successive  weeks,  and  shall  file  a  copy  of  such  no- 
tice in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  court  of  every  county  in 
which  any  part  of  such  road  is  to  be  constructed.    And  if  the  place  of 
such  office  shall  be  changed,  like  notice  of  such  change  shall  be  publish- 
ed and  filed  as  aforesaid,  before  it  shall  take  place  v  in  which  notice  the 
time  of  making  the  change  shall  be  specified.    Every  notice,  summons, 
or  other  paper,  required  by  law  to  be  served  on  such  company,  may  be 
served  by  leaving  the  same  at  such  office,  with  any  person  having 
charge  thereof,  at  any  time  between  nine  o'clock,  a.  m.,  and  noon,  and 
between  two  and  five  o'clock,  p.  m.,  of  any  day,  except  Sundays  and  the 
fourth  day  of  July. 

4  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  directors  of  said  company  to  keep  at  their 
office,  by  the  secretary,  treasurer,  or  clerk,  a  book  containing  the  names 
of  all  persons  who  are,  or  shall,  within  six  years,  have  been  stockhold- 
ers of  such  company,,  a  statement  of  their  places  of  residence,  the  num- 
l>er  of  shares  of  stock  held  by  them  respectively,  and  the  time  when 
they  respectively  became  the  holders  of  stock ;  which  book  shall,  in 
office  hours,  as  defined  in  section  three  of  this  act,  be  open  for  ihe  in- 
spection of  all  persons  who  may  desire  to  examine  the  same ;  and  every 
and  any  person  shall  have  the  right  to  make  extracts  from  such  book. 
Such  book  shall  be  presumptive  evidence  of  the  facts  therein  stated,  in 
favor  of  the  plaintiff,  in  any  suit  or  proceeding  against  said  company,  or 
against  one  or  more  stockholders.  Every  officer  or  agent  of  any  com- 
pany, who  neglect  to  make  any  proper  entry  in  such  book,  or  shall 
neglect  or  refuse  to  exhibit  the  same,  or  allow  the  same  to  be  in- 
spected and  extracts  to  be  taken  therefrom,  as  provided  by  this  section', 
shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor;  and  for  every  such  refusal  or 
neglect  of  such  officer  or  agent,  the  company  shall  forfeit  and  pay  to  the 
party  injured  a  penalty  of  fifty  dollars,  and  all  the  damages  resulting 
therefrom.  Every  company  that  shall  neglect  to  keep  such  book  open 


127 

for  inspection  as  aforesaid,  shall  forfeit  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars  for  every 
day  it  shall  so  neglect;  which  penalty,  when  recovered,  shall  be  paid 
into  the  treasury  of  the  county,  or  if  there  be  more  than  one,  into  the 
treasuries  of  the  counties,  in  equal  proportions,  in  which  the  road  is  con- 
structed. 

5.  The  shares  of  any  company  formed  under  this  act  shall  be  deemed 
personal  property,  and  may  be  transferred  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the 
by-laws  of  such  company,  but  no  transfer  of  stock  shall  be  valid  for  any 
purpose  whatever,  except  to  render  the  person  to  whom  it  shall  be  trans- 
ferred liable  for  the  debts  of  such  company,  according  to  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  unless  such  transfer  shall  be  entered  on  the  book  required  to 
be  kept  as  aforesaid  at  the  office  of  the  company ;  and  such  entry  shall 
shew  to  and  from  whom  transferred,  and  the  date  of  transfer. 

6.  The  directors  of  any  company  incorporated  under  this  act,  may  re- 
quire payment  of  the  sums  subscribed  to  the  capital  stock,  at  such  times, 
and  in  such  proportions,  and  on  such  conditions,  as  they  shall  see  fit, 
under  ilia  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  their  stock,  and  all  previous  pay- 
ments thereon ;  and  they  shall  give  notice  of  the  payments  thus  required' 
and  of  the  place  and  time  when  and  where  the  same  are  to  be  made,  at 
least  thirty  days  previous  to  the  payment  of  the  same,  in  one  newspaper 
printed  in  each  county  in  or  through  which  the  road  is  located,  or  by 
sending  such  notice  to  such  stockholder  by  mail,  directed  to  him  at  his 
usual  place  of  residence. 

7.  The  business  and  property  of  each  company  shall  be  managed  and 
conducted  by  a  board  of  directors,  consisting  of  not  less  than  three  nor 
more  than  nine,  who,  after  the  first  year,  shall  be  elected  at  such  time 
and  place  as  shall  be  provided  by  the  by-laws  of  such  corporation,  and 

public  notice  shall  be  given  of  the  time  and  place  of  holding  such  elec- 
tion, not  less  than  twenty  days  previous  thereto,  in  a  newspaper  printed 
in  each  county  in  or  through  which  the  road  of  such  company  may  be 
located ;  or  if  no  newspaper  be  published  in  such  county,  by  posting  up 
notices.  The  election  shall  be  made  by  such  of  the  stockholders  as  shall 
attend  for  that  purpose,  either  in  person  or  by  proxy.  All  elections  shall 
be  by  ballot,  and  each  stockholder  shall  be  entitled  to  as  many  votes  as 
he  shall  own  shares  of  stock,  and  the  persons  having  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  votes  shall  be  directors,  and  shall  hold  their  offices  lor  one  year, 
and  until  others  are  elected.  No  person  shall  be  a  director  unless  he  is 
a  stockholder  in  the  company,  and  no  stockholder  shall  be  permitted  to 
vote  at  any  election  for  directors,  on  any  stock  except  such  as  he  has 
owned  for  the  thirty  days  next  preceding  the  election.  Whenever  any 
vacancy  shall  happen  in  the  board  of  directors,  such  vacancy  shall  be 
filled  for  the  remainder  of  the  year  by  the  remaining  directors. 

8.  Any  company  formed  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  may  procure, 


128 

by  purchase  or  gift,  from  the  owners  thereof,  any  lands,  or  the  right  ot 
way  over  any  lands,  necessary  for  the  construction  of  the  proposed  road; 
and  may  also  agree  to  the  use  of  any  part  of  a  public  highway  for  the 
construction  of  a  plank  road,  with  the  county  court  of  the  county  in 
which  such  highway  may  be  situated.  Such  agreement  with  said  court 
shall  be  in  writing,  and  shall  be  filed  and  recorded  in  the  office  of  the 
clerk  of  the  said  court.  Before  constructing  the  road  over  such  land  as 
may  be  acquired  by  gift  or  purchase,  or  over  any  highway  by  agreement 
with  the  county  court,  such  company  shall  cause  an  accurate  survey  of 
such  road,  or  section  of  road,  to  be  made  by  a  practical  surveyor,  signed 
by  two  of  the  directors,  acknowledged  by  them  as  conveyances  of  real 
estate  are  required  to  be  acknowledged,  and  filed  in  the  office  of  the 
clerk  of  the  county  court. 

9.  Whenever  said  company  shall  be  desirous  of  constructing  a  plank 
road  over  any  land  not  acquired  by  them  by  gift,  purchase,  or  agree- 
ment, application  shall  be  made  to  the  county  court  of  the  county  in 
which  such  land  shall  be,  for  authority  to  lay  out  and  construct  such 
road,  and  to  take  the  land  necessary  for  such  purposes ;  which  applica- 
tion shall  set  forth  the  route  of  the  proposed  road  as  the  same  shall  have 
been  described  in  the  articles  of  association.    Public  notice  shall  be  given 
of  such  application,  by  publication  for  four  successive  weeks  in  a  news- 
paper published  in  said  county,  if  there  be  one  published,  and  by  post- 
ing up,  for  four  successive  weeks,  a  written  or  printed  notice  thereof, 
on  the  door  of  the  court-house  of  said  county. 

10.  Upon  the  hearing  of  the  said  application,  all  persons  residing  in 
said  county,  and  all  persons  having  any  interest  in  any  real  estate 
through  which  said  road  is  intended  to  be  constructed,  may  appear  and 
be  heard.    Such  county  court  may  take  testimony  in  relation  to  such 
application,  and  may  adjourn  the  hearing  from  time  to  time,  in  its  dis- 
cretion. 

11.  The  county  court,  if  such  an  application  be  granted,  shall  appoint 
three  persons,  having  no  interest  in  the  stock  of  the  proposed  road,  nor 
in  the  lane  over  which  said  road  is  intended  to  be  constructed,  as  com- 
missioners to  lay  out  said  road.    If  such  company  shall  intend  to  con- 
struct its  road  continuously  in  or  through  more  than  one  county,  three 
commissioners  shall  be  appointed  by  the  county  court  of  each  county, 
and  the  joint  commissioners  so  appointed  shall  lay  out  the  whole  route- 
The  said  commissioners,  after  taking  an  oath  justly,  and  fairly,  and  im- 
partially to  perform  their  duty,  shall  cause  an  accurate  survey  and  de- 
scription to  be  made  of  such  route,  and  of  the  land  necessary  to  be  taken 
for  the  construction  of  such  road,  and  the  necessary  buildings  and  gates ; 
which  survey  shall  be  acknowledged  as  deeds  are  required  to  be  ac- 
knowledged and  filed  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  court. 


129 


Where  joint  commissioners  act,  appointed  by  different  counties,  they 
shall  make  a  separate  survey  for  each  county,  to  be  acknowledged,  and 
filed  as  aforesaid.  The  commissioners  appointed  by  each  county  court, 
shall  at  the  same  time  assess  the  damages  which  each  owner  or  owners 
of  land  in  their  respective  counties  will  sustain,  over  and  above  the  ad- 
ditional value  which  such  lands  will  derive  from  the  construction  of  the 
road,  and  make  a  report  thereof  in  writing,  signed  by  a  majority  of  the 
commissioners,  to  the  county  court  appointing  them.  The  said  com- 
missioners shall  hear  all  persons  interested,  who  shall  apply  to  them  to 
be  heard.  The  company  shall  pay  each  of  said  commissioners  two  dol- 
lars for  every  day  spent  by  him  in  the  performance  of  his  duties,  and  his 
necessary  expenses. 

12.  No  road  shall  be  laid  out  through  any  orchard,  to  the  injury  or  de- 
struction of  fruit  trees,  or  through  any  garden,  nor  through  any  dwelling 
house,  or  buildings  connected  therewith,  or  any  yards  or  enclosures  ne- 
cessary for  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  such  dwelling,  without  the  consent 
of  the  owner;  nor  shall  any  such  company  bridge  any  stream,  where 
the  same  is  navigable  by  steamboats,  or  in  any  manner  that  will  prevent 
or  endanger  the  passage  of  any  flat-boat  or  raft  of  the  width  of  twenty- 
five  feet. 

13.  The  route  laid  out  and  surveyed  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  the  route  of 
said  road ;  and  such  company  may  enter  upon,  and  take,  and  hold,  sub- 
ject to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  all  such  lands  as  the  said  survey  shall 
describe  as  necessary  for  the  construction  of  such  road,  and  the  neces- 
sary buildings  and  gates.    But  before  entering  upon  any  such  lands,  the 
company  shall  purchase  the  same  of  the  owners  thereof,  or  pursuant  to 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  acquire  the  right  to  enter  upon  and  hold  the 
same. 

14.  If  any  owner  of  any  such  land  shall,  from  any  cause,  be  incapa- 
ble of  selling  the  same ;  or  if  such  company  cannot  agree  with  such 
owner,  for  the  purchase  thereof;  or  if,  after  diligent  inquiry,  the  name 
and  residence  of  any  such  owner  cannot  be  ascertained,  the  company 
may  present  to  the  county  judge  of  the  county  in  which  the  lands  lie,  a 
petition  setting  forth  the  grounds  of  the  application,  a  description  of  the 
lands  in  question,  and  the  name  and  residence  of  the  owner,  if  known, 
and  the  means  that  have  been  taken  to  ascertain  the  name  and  residence 
of  such  owner,  if  unknown,  and  praying  that  the  damages  of  the  owner 
of  the  lands  described  in  the  petition  may  be  ascertained. 

15.  Upon  receiving  such  petition,  the  said  judge  shall  appoint  a  time, 
at  some  regular  or  special  term  of  the  county  court,  for  the  hearing  of 
the  petition.    At  least  ten  days'  notice  of  the  time  and  hearing  of  the 
petition,  shall  be  served  personally  upon  each  owner  of  the  lands  de- 
scribed in  the  petition,  if  he  reside  in  the  state  of  Illinois;  and  such 


130 

notice  shall  be  served  on  all  other  owners  in  like  manner,  or  by  publica- 
tion thereof,  for  four  successive  weeks,  in  some  newspaper  published  in 
the  county  in  which  the  lands  lie ;  or  if  there  are  none  published  in  such 
county,  then  in  thg  nearest  newspaper ;  the  first  of  which  publications 
bhall  be  sixty  days  before  the  hearing. 

16.  At  the  time  appointed  for  the  hearing,  if  the  assessment  of  dam- 
ages reported  by  the  commissioners  be  objected  to  by  either  party,  by 
the  consent  of  both  parties,  or  those  legally  authorised  to  represent  them, 
the  county  court  shall  assess  and  determine  the  damages  which  the 
owner  of  any  lands  will  sustain,  over  and  above  the  value  the  owner 
will  derive  from  the  building  of  the  road.    The  court  shall,  in  such  as- 
sessment, hear  any  competent  testimony  cither  party  may  present,  and 
shall  have  power,  upon  cause  shewn,  to  adjourn  the  hearing  from  time 
to  time.    The  court  shall,  at  the  time  of  making  the  assessment  of 
damages,  also  determine  the  amount  that  ought  to  be  paid  to  the  owner 
for  the  time  spent  and  necessary  expenses  incurred  by  him  in  respect  to 
the  proceedings  to  determine  the  damages;  which  shall  be  paid  by  the 
company.    The  assessment  of  the  court,  which  shall  contain  the  name 
of  the  owner  and  an  accurate  description  of  the  lands  to  be  taken,  shall 
be  entered  of  record,  and  such  assessment  shall  be  final. 

17.  At  the  time  appointed  for  [the]  hearing  before  the  county  court,  if 
the  assessment  of  damages  reported  by  the  commissioners  be  objected 
to  by  either  party,  and  a  trial  by  jury  demanded ;  or  if  there  be  no  per- 
eon  legally  authorised  to  act  for  the  owner,  it  shall  be  GO  entered  of  re- 
cord in  the  county  court,  and  such  entry,  with  a  copy  of  the  application, 
shall  be  certified  by  the  clerk  of  the  county  court,  and  filed  by  him  in 
tho  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  circuit  court,  who  shall  docket  the  same. 

18.  Such  case  shall  stand  for  trial  in  its  order  on  the  docket,  at  the 
term  of  the  circuit  court  next  after  the  filing  of  the  papers  by  the  county 
clerk  as  aforesaid;  if  the  owner  appears  in  person  or  by  attorney,  or  if 
satisfactory  evidence  be  furnished  to  the  court  by  affidavit,  or  the  return 
of  a  sworn  officer,  that  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  the  hearing  of  the 
petition  before  the  county  court  had  been  served  upon  the  owners  per- 
sonally or  by  publication,  as  provided  in  section  fifteen  of  this  act. 

19.  In  case  any  lands  described  in  the  petition  shall  be  owned  by  any 
married  woman,  infant,  idiot,  or  insane  person,  or  by  a  non-resident  of 
the  state,  and  no  person  legally  authorised  to  represent  him,  her,  or  them, 
shall  appear,  the  circuit  court  shall  appoint  some  competent  and  suitable 
person,  having  no  interest  adverse  to  the  owner,  to  take  care  of  the  said 
owner's  interest  in  the  proceedings  to  assess  damages  to  be  paid  to  the 
owner.    And  all  such  notices  as  in  the  further  progress  of  the  case  are 
required  to  be  served  on  any  owner,  shall  be  served  in  like  manner  on 


131 

the  person  so  appointed,  but  any  person  so  appointed  may  at  any  time 
be  superseded  by  the  owner. 

20.  Cases  of  assessment  of  damages,  except  so  far  as  is  otherwise 
provided  by  this  act,  shall  be  conducted  in  the  circuit  court,  according  to 
the  rules  of  practice  of  said  court,  so  far  as  such  rules  are  applicable. 
The  jury,  after  hearing  the  evidence,  and  the  parties,  shall,  by  a  verdict, 
ascertain  and  determine  the  damages  which  the  owner  of  any  lands  will 
sustain  over  and  above  the  value  the  owner  will  derive  from  the  con- 
struction of  the  road,  and  also  the  amount  that  ought  to  be  paid  to  him  ' 
for  the  time  spent  and  the  necessary  expenses  incurred  by  him  in  the 
proceeding  to  assess  damages,  to  be  paid  by  the  company.  Such  verdict 
shall  be  in  writing,  signed  by  the  jury,  and  shall  contain  a  particular  de- 
scription of  the  land  in  respect  to  which  it  is  found,  and  be  entered  of 
record.  The  court  may,  in  its  discretion,  on  the  application  of  the  com- 
pany, direct  two  or  more  similar  cases  standing  for  trial  at  the  same 
term,  to  be  submitted  to  the  same  jury. 

21.  Within  thirty  days  after  the  rendition  of  any  such  verdict,  or  if  a 
new  trial  be  granted,  or  an  appeal  taken,  within  thirty  days  after  the 
final  trial,  or  decision  in  the  appellate  court,  or  within  thirty  days  after 
the  assessment  of  damages  by  the  county  court,  if  made  by  that  court, 
the  company  shall  pay  to  the  person  entitled  to  receive  the  same,  the 
amount  awarded  by  the  county  court,  if  tried  by  consent  by  that  court, 
or  awarded  by  the  jury  if  tried  in  the  circuit  court,  or  shall  make  a  legal 
tender  thereof  to  him;  and  the  company  may  thereupon  enter  upon  the 
lands  in  respect  to  which  an  assessment  of  damages  has  been  made,  and 
take  and  hold  the  same  so  long  as  it  shall  be  used  for  the  purposes  of 
such  a  roal  as  such  company  was  formed  to  construct. 

22.  If  any  person  be  not  a  resident  of  this  state,  or  cannot  be  found 
therein  after  diligent  search,  the  company  may  furnish  to  the  county 
judge  satisfactory  proof,  by  affidavit,  of  such  fact,  and  he  shall  thereupon 
make  an  order,  that  the  amount  to  be  paid  to  the  owner  shall  be  depos- 
ited with  the  county  treasurer  of  the  county  in  which  the  lands  lie,  for 
the  use  of  the  owner,  and  notice  of  such  payment  to  be  given  by  publi- 
cation for  four  successive  weeks  in  some  newspaper  published  in  said 
county,  or  if  none  be  published  in  said  county,  in  the  nearest  newspaper. 
Upon  satisfactory  proof  being  made  to  the  judge,  by  affidavit,  of  such 
payment  to  the  county  treasurer,  and  publication,  he  shall  make  an  or- 
der authorising  the  company  to  take  possession  of  the  land  in  respect  to 
which  the  damages  have  been  thus  assessed  and  deposited,  under  which 
order  the  company  may  enter  upon,  take,  and  hold  such  land  in  the 
same  manner,  and  with  the  same  effect,  as  if  payment  had  been  made 
to  the  owner  personally.  'The  orders  and  affidavits  made  under  thia 
section  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  court. 


132 

23.  Every  plank  road  made  by  virtue  of  this  act,  shall  be  so  construct- 
ed as  to  make  a  secure  and   permanent  road,  the  track  of  which 
shall  be  made  of  plank,  and  in  such  manner  as  to  permit  wagons 
and  other  vehicles  conveniently  and  easily  to  pass  each  other,  and  also 
so  as  to  permit  all  vehicles  to  pass  on  and  off  where  such  road  is  inter- 
sected by  other  roads. 

24.  In  each  county  of  this  state,  in  which  there  shall  be  any  plank 
road  constructed  by  virtue  of  this  act,  the  county  court  shall  appoint 
three  inspectors  of  such  roads,  who  shall  not  be  interested  in  any  plank 
road,  and  who  shall  hold  their  offices  during  the  pleasure  of  the  court. 
Before  entering  on  their  duties  they  shall  take  an  oath  faithfully  to  per- 
form the  duties  of  their  office,  and  file  the  same  in  the  office  of  the 
clerk  of  the  county  court. 

25.  Whenever  any  such  company  shall  have  completed  their  road,  or 
any  two  consecutive  miles  thereof,  application  may  be  made  to  any  two 
of  the  inspectors,  to  be  appointed  as  aforesaid  by  the  court  of  the  county 
in  which  the  road,  or  the  part  thereof  to  be  inspected,  is  constructed,  to 
inspect  the  same ;  which  inspectors  shall  be  allowed  two  dollars  per  day 
for  the  time  necessarily  employed,  to  be  paid  by  the  company  whose 
road  they  inspect;  and  if  they  find  that  the  road  so  inspected,  or  two  or 
more  miles  thereof,  is  constructed  according  to  the  true  intent  and 
meaning  of  this  act,  and  is  fit  for  use,  they  shall  sign  a  certificate  to  that 
effect. 

26.  Upon  filing  a  certificate  as  aforesaid  of  the  inspectors,  or  two  of 
them,  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  court,  the  company  may 
erect  one  or  more  toll-gates  upon  the  road,  and  may  demand  and  receive 
toll,  not  exceeding  the  following  rates:  For  every  vehicle  drawn  by  one 
animal,  two  cents  per  mile ;  for  every  vehicle  drawn  by  two  animals, 
three  cents  a  mile ;  lor  every  vehicle  drawn  by  more  than  two  animals, 
three  cents  a  mile,  and  one  half  cent  additional  a  mile  for  every  animal 
more  than  two ;  for  every  ten  of  neat  cattle,  one  cent  a  mile ;  for  every 
ten  of  sheep  or  swine,  one  cent  a  mile ;  and  for  every  horse  and  rider,  or 
led  horse,  one  cent  per  mile. 

27.  The  stockholders  of  every  company  incorporated  under  this  act, 
shall  be  liable  in  their  individual  capacity  for  the  payment  of  the  debts 
of  such  company,  for  an  amount  equal  to  the  amount  of  stock  they 
severally  have  subscribed  or  hold  in  said  company  over  and  above  such 
stock,  to  be  recovered  of  the  stockholder  who  is  such  when  the  debt  is 
contracted,  or  of  any  subsequent  stockholder  ;  and  any  stockholder  who 
may  have  paid  any  demand  against  such  company,  either  voluntarily,  or 
by  compulsion,  shall  have  a  right  to  resort  to  the  rest  of  the  stockholders 
liable,  for  contribution.    The  dissolution  of  any  company  shall  not  re- 


133 

lease  or  affect  the  liability  of  any  stockholder,  which  may  have  been  in- 
curred before  such  dissolution. 

28.  The  debts  and  liabilities  of  any  company  formed  under  this  act 
shall  not  exceed  in  amount,  at  any  one  time,  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
amount  of  its  capital  actually  paid  in ;  and  if  such  debts  and  liabilities 
shall  at  any  time  exceed  such  amount,  the  stockholders  who  were  such 
at  the  time  any  excess  of  debts  or  liabilities  shall  be  created  or  incurred, 
shall  be  jointly  and  severally  individually  liable  for  such  excess,  in  ad- 
dition to  their  other  individual  liability  as  provided  in  this  act. 

29.  In  any  action  against  any  company  iormed  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  the  plaintiff  may  include  as  defendants  any  one  or  more  of  the 
stockholders  of  such  company,  who  shall  by  virtue  of  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  be  claimed  to  be  liable  to  contribute  to  the  payment  of  the 
plaintiff's  claim ;  and  if  judgment  be  given  against  such  company,  in 
favor  of  the  plaintiff,  for  his  claim,  or  any  part  thereof,  and  one  or  more 
stockholders  so  made  defendants  shall  be  found  to  be  liable  as  aforesaid 
judgment  shall  be  given  against  him  or  them,  and  shall  shew  the  extent 
of  his  or  their  liabilities  individually.    The  execution  upon  such  judg- 
ment shall  direct  the  collection  of  the  sum  for  which  it  may  be  issued, 
of  the  property  of  such  company  liable  to  be  levied  upon  by  virtue  there- 
of; and  in  case  such  property  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  same  cannot  be 
found,  that  the  deficiency,  or  so  much  thereof  as  the  stockholders  who 
shall  be  defendants  in  such  judgment  shall  be  liable  to  pay,  shall  be  col- 
lected of  the  property  of  such  stockholders  respectively.    And  if  in  any 
such  action  any  one  or  more  of  such  stockholders  shall  be  found  not  to 
be  liable  for  the  demand  of  the  plaintiff,  or  any  part  thereof,  judgment 
shall  be  given  for  the  stockholders  so  found  not  to  be  liable,  but  no  ver- 
dict or  judgment  in  favor  of  any  such  stockholders  shall  prevent  the  plain- 
tiff in  such  action  from  proceeding  therein  against  the  company  alone, 
or  against  the  company  and  such  defendants  who  are  stockholders  as 
shall  be  liable  for  such  demand,  or  some  portion  thereof.    Suits  may  be 
brought  against  one  or  more  stockholders  who  are  claimed  to  be  liable 
for  any  debt  owing  by  the  company,  or  any  part  of  such  debt,  without 
joining  the  company  in  such  suit,  but  no  such  suit  shall  be  so  brought, 
until  judgment  on  the  demand  shall  have  been  obtained  against  the 
company,  and  execution  thereon  returned  unsatisfied  in  whole  or  in 
part,  or  the  company  shall  have  been  dissolved,  and  in  such  suit  there 
may  be  a  verdict  and  judgment  in  favor  of  any  defendant  not  liable  as 
aforesaid,  but  such  verdict  and  judgment  shall  not  prevent  the  plaintiff 
in  such  suit  from  proceeding  therein  against  any  defendant  who  shall  be 
liable  as  aforesaid. 

30.  Where  any  services  shall  be  rendered  by  any  officer  or  person  in 
the  proceedings  under  this  act,  and  no  specific  fees  have  been  fixed  by 


134 

law,  the  compensation  to  be  paid  by  the  company  to  any  such  officer  or 
person,  shall  be  taxed  by  the  court  under  whose  direction  the  services 
may  have  been  rendered. 

31.  Any  plank  road,  and  its  appurtenances,  that  may  be  constructed 
by  virtue  of  this  act,  shall,  for  revenue  purposes,  be  deemed  real  estate, 
and  be  liable  as  such  to  taxation. 

32.  All  companies  formed  under  this  act,  shall,  for  any  violation  of  its 
1/rovisions,  to  be  determined  by  a  judicial  investigation,  forfeit  its  corpo- 
rate privileges.    Such  companies  shall  at  all  times  be  subject  to  visita- 
tion and  examination  by  the  legislature,  or  a  committee  appointed  by 
either  house  thereof,  or  by  any  officer  or  agent  in  pursuance  of  law. 

33.  Every  company  incorjwrated  under  this  act  shall  cease  to  be  a 
body  corporate,  if  within  two  years  from  the  ming  of  their  articles  of 
association  they  shall  not  have  commenced  the  construction  of  their 
road,  and  actually  expended  thereon  at  least  ten  per  cent,  of  the  capital 
stock  of  such  company ;  or  if  within  five  years  from  such  fjling  of  (he 
articles  of  association  such  road  shall  not  be  completed  according  to  the 
provisions  of  this  act. 

34.  The  county  court  of  any  county  is  hereby  authorised  to  subscribe 
to  the  stock  of  any  plank  road  lying  in  said  county,  to  an  amount  not 
exceeding  one-third  of  said  stock,  and  such  county  shall  be  subject  to  all 
the  liabilitiss  and  hara  all  the  rights  of  a  stockholder,  as  provided  by 
tfua  act. 


JUDGE  GRIDLEY'S  OPINION. 


SUPREME  COURT  OF  NEW  YORK— JEFFERSON  GENERAL 
TERM. 

A  PLANK  ROAD  REMAINS  A  PUBLIC  HIGHWAY,  IF  LOCATED  ON  AN  OLD  KOAD- 
DAMAGES  INCURRED  BY  GRADING  CANNOT  BE  RECOVERED  BY  AN  INDIVID- 
UAL. 

Benedict  vs.  Goit.  Kirkland  for  the  Plaintiff.  Comstock  for  the  De- 
fendant. Gridley,  Justice.  t 

The  questions  raised  upon  the  demurrer  in  this  cause  involve  the  con- 
stitutionality.of  one  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  organizing  the  "  Rome 
and  Oswego  Road  Company,"  and  authorizing  the  construction  of  the 
r<~ad  known  as  the  plank  road,  leading  from  Rome  to  Oswego.  By  the 
second  section  of  the  act  (laws  of  1844,  p.  434)  the  provisions  of  the  gen- 
eral statute  concerning  turnpike  corporations,  (1  R.  S.  581)  are  adopted, 
and  made  applicable  to  the  road  in  question.  The  29th  section  of  the 
general  act  confers  the  power  of  taking  any  public  highway,  by  apprais- 
ing the  value  of  the  public  interest  in  the  road,  and  paying  the  same  to 
the  commissioners  of  highways,  to  be  by  them  applied  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  roads  in  their  respective  towns.  It  is  this  particular  provis- 
ion to  which  the  plaintiff  objects.  He  lives  upon  the  line  of  the  road 
which  has  been  constructed  upon  the  site  of  a  public  highway  that  has 
been  appropriated  under  this  section;  and  he  complains  that  the  defen- 
dant has  committed  an  unwarrantable  trespass  upon  his  land  by  the  act 
of  building  the  road — and  also  that  in  grading  it  an  embankment  has 
been  raised  in  the  front  of  his  dwelling  house,  so  that  he  has  been  com- 
pelled to  incur  considerable  expense  and  inconvenience  in  raising  his 
buildings  to  the  level  of  the  road.  The  defendant  has  in  his  plea  justi- 
fied the  alleged  trespass,  under  the  act,  as  a  servant  of  the  company, 
and  to  this  plea  the  plaintiff  has  demurred. 

The  ground  assumed  by  the  plaintiff  is  that  the  "  locus  in  quo,"  since 

its  appropriation  by  the  company,  has  ceased  to  be  a  public  highway 

and  therefore  that  the  entire  interest  in  it  has  reverted  to  him  as  the 

original  owner;  and  doubtless  the  conclusion  follows  as  a  legal  conse- 

10 


136 

quence  if  the  premises  are  admitted  lo  be  correct.  Several  cases  have 
been  decided  in  this  state,  holding  that  rail  road  companies,  winch  have 
occupied  portions  of  the  public  highway,  are  liable  to  the  owners  of  th* 
soil  for  an  unlawful  invasion  of  their  rights.  (3  Hill  567;  25  Wendell 
462 ;  5  Hill  170.)  But  a  rail  road  is  in  no  sense  a  public  highway.  The 
nature  of  the  road  forbids  its  use  by  the  public  in  common  with  the  com- 
pany. But  the  position  assumed  by  the  defendant's  counsel  is  that  the 
road  in  question  in  this  suit  is  a  public  highway  still,  open  for  the  public 
use,  precisely  as  is  every  public  road  in  the  state ;  and  that  the  corpora- 
tions organized  by  the  act  before  cited  has  succeeded  to  all  the  rights  and 
powers  of  the  commissioners  of  highways,  in  the  several  towns  through 
which  the  road  passes.  We  are  of  this  opinion. 

I.  Thit  the  road  is  public  in  the  sense  that  every  citizen  has  the  right 
to  travel  on  it,  either  on  foot,  or  horseback,  in  his  carriage,  or  with  hn 
team,  subject  to  the  payment  of  the  legal  tolls,  is  undeniable-.  The  ob- 
ject of  the  legislature  in  passing  the  act  seems  to  have  been  two-fold  : 
1st.  To  provide  for  a  better  road  than  is  ordinarily  constructed  under  the 
supervision  of  the  towji  commissioners.  In  order  to  carry  out  this  de- 
sign, the  sixth  section  of  the  act  declares  that  the  "track  of  said  road 
shall  be  constructed  of  timber,  plank,  gravel,  or  other  hard  material,  so 
that  the  same  shall  form  a  hard,  smooth  and  even  surface."  It  cannot, 
be  doubted  that  the  legislature  has  the  power  to  ordain  by  law  that  all 
the  public  highways  in  the  state  shall  be  graded,  leveled,  and  construct- 
ed of  some  hard  substance,  under  the  direction  of  the  town  commission- 
ers, so  as  to  form  a  hard,  smooth  and  even  surface.  And  it  is  equally 
clear  that  the  commissioners  in  the  respective  towns,  by  virtue  of  the 
powers  they  now  possess,  may  in  their  discretion  improve  the  public 
highways  in  all  these  respects  to  the  extent  of  the  means  under  their 
control.  No  importance  should  be  attached  to  the  idea  of  a  plank  road  ; 
for  the  intent  of  the  act  was  simply  to  provide  for  a  road  constructed  of 
some  hard  and  durable  material.  A  gravel  road  would  equally  have 
satisfied  the  requirements  of  the  act. 

2d.  A  further  object  of  the  legislature  was  to  provide  for  a  different 
mode  of  keeping  the  road  in  repair.  It  devolves  the  duty  upon  the  cor- 
poration instead  of  the  town  commissioners,  and  provides  for  raising  the 
necessary  funds  by  levying  tolls  on  those  who  travel  on  the  road,  instead 
of  resorting  to  an  assessment  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  respective  dis- 
tricts. We  do  not  see  why  these  provisions  are  not  entirely  within  the 
power  of  the  legislature.  May  they  not  vest  the  oversight  of  the  public 
roads  in  any  other  agent  than  the  commissioners  ?  And  may  they  not 
provide  any  other  mode  which  seems  to  them  more  equitable  and  expe- 
dient for  keeping  the  roads  in  repair,  than  the  ordinary  highway  assess- 
ment? And  if  these  provisions  should  be  extended  to  all  the  public 


highways  in  the  state,  would  they  cease  to  be  public  highways?  And 
would  the  public  interest  in  the  roads  become  forfeited  by  such  an  act, 
anil  the  owners  of  the  fee  of  the  lands  over  which  the  roads  are  con- 
structed, succeed  to  their  original  estate  in  those  lands,  discharged  of  the 
right  of  the  public  to  use  them  as  public  highways  ?  We  think  not- 
And  if  this  consequence  would  not  follow  from  a  general  exercise  of  this 
power  by  the  legislature,  we  do  not  see  why  it  should  in  the  particular 
instances  in  question.  To  deny  the  power  of  the  legislature  to  exercise 
this  extensive  control  over  the  public  highways  in  the  state,  would  be  to 
interpose  an  effectual  barrier  to  any  important  improvement  in  our  pub- 
lic roads  and  thoroughfares,  and  would  operate  most  injuriously  upon  the 
jtdvancement  and  prosperity  of  the  commercial,  manufacturing,  agricul- 
tural and  social  interests  of  the  community.  We  are  of  opinion,  there- 
lore,  that,  upon  principle,  the  road  which  was  taken  by  this  company  by 
virtue  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  did  not  cease  to  be  a  public  highway  ; 
and  that  when  the  corporation  paid  the  commissioners  of  highways  tor 
the  public  interest  in  the  road,  it  succeeded  to  all  the  rights  of  the  town 
commissioners  to  make  such  repairs  in  the  road  as  the  public  interest  re- 
quired, whether  such  repairs  consisted  in  excavations  or  embankments, 
to  bring  the  road  to  a  proper  grade,  and  thus  to  improve  its  condition  aa 
a  public  thoroughfare. 

II.  This  question  seems  to  have  been  settled,  so  far  as  such  a  question 
ran  be  settled  by  legislative  authority.  It  is  not  pretended  by  the  coun- 
sel for  the  plaintiff  that  any  difference  exists  between  the  rights  acquired 
by  this  corporation,  and  those  to  which  a  turnpike  company  would  be 
entitled  under  the  like  circumstances.  The  provision  in  question  has 
been  incorporated  in  the  acts  relating  to  turnpike  companies  for  more 
than  forty  years.  The  original  turnpike  act  was  passed  in  1807,  and 
was  re-enacted  in  the  revision  of  1813,  and  again  in  1830 ;  and  the  prin- 
ciple was  again  distinctly  asserted  in  the  26th  section  of  the  act  concern- 
ing plank  and  turnpike  roads,  passed  in  1847.  (Laws  of  1847,  ch.  210, 
p.  216,  sec.  26.)  During  all  this  period,  within  which  the  state  has  been 
traversed  in  every  direction  by  turnpike  roads,  in  the  construction  of 
which  the  right  which  is  now  drawn  in  question  must  have  been  most 
extensively  exercised — we  have  no  knowledge  that  any  individual  hag 
complained  of  the  exercise  of  this  right,  or  controverted  the  constitution- 
ality of  the  act  which  conferred  it.  This  long  practice  under  the  law, 
in  addition  to  its  repeated  re-enactment,  though  not  conclusive,  never- 
theless is  strong  evidence  in  favor  of  the  correctness  of  our  viewa  upon 
the  question  under  consideration.  This  however  is  not  all.  The  point 
has  been  directly  adjudicated  in  the  case  of  The  Commonwealth  vs. 
Wilkinson,  (Pickering  175.)  In  this  case  a  turnpike  road  wan  adjudge^ 
to  be  a  public  highway. 


138 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  corporation  have  an  interest,  of  a 
certain  description,  in  the  road.  They  may  doubtless  recover  dam- 
ages against  any  person  who  shall  commit  nn  injury  upon  it.  This 
is,  however,  precisely  the  same  interest  which  a  public  agent  would 
possess  in  it,  who  should  be  employed  under  a  legislative  enact- 
ment to  keep  the  road  in  repair,  for  a  given  compensation.  Again, 
every  citizen  over  whose  lands  a  public  road  is  laid  out,  retains  an 
interest  in  the  road.  He  still  owns  the  fee  of  the  land,  and  may 
maintain  ejectment  or  trespass  against  third  persons  who  take  posses- 
sion of  it.  or  use  it  for  any  other  purpose  than  a  public  highway.  The 
public  interest  in  the  road  is  merely  that  of  a  right  of  way  ;  and  we  can- 
not see  how  the  interest  which  any  individual  or  corporation  may  have 
in  the  road,  that  does  not  interfere  with  this  right,  can  in  any  degree 
aflect  its  character  as  a  public  highway.  The  interest  which  this  corpo- 
ration has  in  the  road  in  question  is  entirely  compatible  with  the  use  of 
it  as  a  public  highway,  subject  only  to  the  single  condition  of  paying 
tolls;  and  this,  as  we  have  already  seen,  is  a  burden  imposed  expressly 
for  the  keeping  of  the  road  in  repair.  And  in  many  instances  it  is  fai- 
more  equitable  than  the  common  mode  by  assessment  of  a  highway  tax. 
By  the  latter  mode,  a  citizen,  whose  employment  consists  in  drawing 
heavy  loads  over  a  given  tiact  of  highway,  in  no  degree  indemnities  tha 
public  for  the  repairs  which  he  renders  necessary  by  the  insignificant  as- 
sessment which  he  pays  in  his  own  district.  In  all  such  cases,  the  sys- 
tem of  tolls  is  a  far  more  equal  and  just  one.  t 

III.  The  claim  made  under  the  4th  count  of  the  declaration  must  de- 
pend upon  the  decision  of  the  question  we  have  just  considered.  If  the 
corporation  has  succeeded  to  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  commission- 
ers of  highways,  then  any  inconvenience  or  damage  which  the  plaintiff 
has  suffered  by  proper  and  reasonable  repairs  of  the  public  highway  is 
"  damnum  abstjue  injuria."  If  the  commissioners  see  fit,  for  the  purpose 
of  grading  a  highway,  to  cut  down  a  hill,  or  to  raise  an  embankment  in 
the  road  adjacent  to  the  premises  and  dwellings  of  citizens  by  which 
those  citizens  suffer  expense  and  inconvenience,  no  action  can  be  main- 
tained for  the  injury.  This  question  was  thus  settled  in  the  case  of 
Graves  vs.  Otis,  (2  Hill  466,)  where  the  injury  complained  of  consisted 
in  cutting  down  an  eminence  in  a  public  street  and  sidewalk  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Watertown,  by  which  the  plaintiff's  store  was  left  some  six  or 
eight  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sidewalk  adjacent  to  the  premises. 
(Ses  also  to  the  same  point,  1  Pickering  418 ;  4  Term  Rep.  794 ;  8  Cowen 
146;  Sedgwick  on  damages  110.) 

We  have  not  inquired  whether  it  was  necessary  to  allege  in  the  plea 
that  the  value  of  the  public  interest  in  the  road  had  been  appraised  and 
paid  to  the  town  commissioners,  nor  whether  any  other  criticism  may 


139 

be  applied  to  the  plea.  But  we  have  assumed  that  the  acts  for  which  tha 
action  is  brought  were  done  in  the  legitimate  exercise  of  the  powers 
conferred  by  the  statute,  and  were  incident  to  the  right  of  constructing 
a  road  of  a  proper  grade,  and  so  as  to  form  a  hard,  smooth  and  even 
surface,  as  directed  by  the  6th  section  of  the  act.  In  doing  this,  we  have 
complied  with  the  request  of  the  counsel  of  both  parties,  their  object 
being  to  obtain  a  decision  of  the  important  constitutional  question  which 
we  have  discussed.  But  for  any  unreasonable  exercise  of  the  power  con- 
fe.rred  by  the  act,  the  agent  is  responsible ;  and  if  such  a  case  can  be 
made  out,  the  plaintiff  should  have  the  opportunity  to  amend  lu's  decla- 
ration. 

The  demurrer  is  therefore  overruled,  with  the  right  to  amend  on  pay- 
ment of  costs. 


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